FRANKIE DETTORI has undergone a Peaky Blinders-style makeover during his lockdown.But even TV’s master schemer Tommy Shelby would struggle to come up with a plan to combat the deadly Covid-19 pandemic’s decimation of sport.
And three-time Champion Jockey Dettori fears racing will still be suffering the economic effects well into 2021.
He admitted: “There are no words to describe what we are all going through. It has been horrendous.
“Who would ever thought in our lifetime we would have to go through something like this virus? I hope it will never happen again.
“Look how many people have lost their lives and we are still not out of it.
“So I have no idea when racing will return.
“It’s quite hard to get motivated because we can’t see a light at the end of the tunnel.”
However, the Italian, 49, is riding out three times a week from trainer John Gosden’s Newmarket stables.
He is also keeping fit in his home gym and — despite the lockdown — is only three pounds heavier than his fighting weight of 8st 11lb.
He added: “I am 70 per cent fit but it won’t take me long to get back to 100.
“I’m only three pounds overweight and that’s not bad considering I haven’t rode competitively for months.”
He makes sure he and Gosden observe social-distancing guidelines when they are on the gallops — but concedes lockdown with his wife Catherine and their five children is getting tricky.
Dettori explained: “We are snapping at each other a bit as our fuse gets shorter but nobody ever spent so much time with each other.”
Last week his daughter Mia gave him his distinctive Tommy Shelby haircut — which Dettori hopes will help raise money for the NHS.
He posted his new look on Twitter and revealed: “My kids dared me to do it.
“Mia couldn’t wait to cut it but she has done a very good job. It’s my Peaky Blinders look. Now I will have to audition for the next series!
“However, if I can make people laugh and raise a bit of money for the NHS, then why not?”
Dettori is donating 1,000 bottles of hydration drink iPro to NHS staff at his local Newmarket Hospital and has also launched an appeal for the Red Cross in Italy.
His mother Iris Maria is locked down in Varese near Milan, in the epicentre of the outbreak in Europe.
Father Gianfranco, who turned 79 yesterday, is stuck in Morocco.
Dettori said: “Mum is in her 70s and had pneumonia ten years ago. So if she gets the virus, there is a chance she might not pull through.
“Dad is scared Morocco might not have the same standard of healthcare as elsewhere in Europe but there are no flights out.
“Mum is in complete lockdown with my stepdad. They have masks and gloves and he goes out once every ten days to get the shopping to make sure mum does not come into contact with anyone who is
infected.”
Dettori’s sister Sandra had to self-isolate for two weeks when she flew back to Italy just before the UK went into special measures.
Racing, like the rest of UK sport, has been shut down.
It has halted Dettori’s glittering career, in which he has won a fortune, the Derby twice and six Arcs as well as the Champion Jockey titles.
He pocketed more than £7million in prize money last year as he recorded a phenomenal 250th Group One triumph.
But he admitted even he is worried about the financial impact of the coronavirus crisis.
The British Racing Authority has stood down the majority of its 260 employees.
He said: “As jockeys, we are all suffering financially.
“I have done well in my career and managed to put some money away but the bills are still coming in thick and fast and when you are not earning any money, it’s tough.
“And think of the jockeys who have not been as successful. They still have to pay mortgages, bills — it is difficult.
“But the whole world is in this position. Everybody has had to tighten belts and we are all trying to keep our heads above water.
“The quicker we can get out of this, the quicker we can get things back on track.
“However, this virus will have a huge impact on our sport over the next 18 months.
“Most of the major races are sponsored by big companies but if you stage races behind closed doors there will be no fans and a reduction in sponsorship.
“That will reflect on prize money and betting turnover. It’s a domino effect and there will be a huge dent in prize money.”
Current Government orders mean the whole country is in lockdown until at least May 7.
But football chiefs are planning for players to return to training as early as May 9, with a behind-closed-doors completion of the season by July 31.
And Dettori is hopeful racing will also be able to return next month — albeit without fans in attendance.
He said: “If some Government restrictions are lifted, there is a good chance we can resume racing behind closed doors — like they have in Hong Kong, Australia and Florida.
“French racing is starting officially on May 11 although they began their lockdown before us.
“That gives us a bit of hope. If everything improves and the country is getting better, hopefully by the end of May it would be nice to start behind closed doors.”
The first four Classics of the flat season have all been postponed, with June’s Royal Ascot meeting — where Dettori famously won all seven races on Champions Day in 1996 — scheduled to be held
without fans for the first time.
On racing in front of empty stands, he said: “There will be a huge buzz missing. To us riders, it won’t be the same.
“When you go to Royal Ascot and have 60,000 people screaming your name, it feels fantastic. This year it will be empty and really peculiar.
“But we can’t afford to cancel the Derby or the Guineas, otherwise you are exterminating, annihilating a generation of breeding. We have to save the three-year-old crop. It’s paramount we race
the Classics and continue their history.
“If racing does resume, it will be a crammed and congested season but no different to football. I think it’s doable.
“We are in the hands of the Gods but if we can get the show on the road, it will give people who have been stuck in their homes some much- needed entertainment.”
Dettori is refusing to look as far ahead as an attempt at a record-breaking third Arc triumph on wonder-mare Enable in October.
He said: “By then I hope we will be racing in front of crowds but if we get a second wave of this virus, who knows what is going to happen? Let’s not look too far ahead.”
By order of the Peaky Blinders, as Shelby would say.
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