THIS time next year, horse racing will be facing up to life after Frankie Dettori.
The legendary Italian announced last month that he will retire from riding after a brilliant 38-year career at the Breeders’ Cup in November.
Frankie Dettori will end his legendary career in November
Oisin Murphy is one of the potential new ‘faces’ of horse racing
All good things must come to an end, but it was news that horse racing had been dreading for a long time.
Not only is Dettori one of the greatest jockeys ever, but his star quality and larger than life personality have transcended the sport for the last three decades.
He has been a one-man marketing machine for the industry and is one of racing’s few easily recognisable faces among the general public.
His retirement will be seismic and for horse racing and in truth he is irreplaceable – but the work should begin now to try and find a new face of the sport.
There are some very obvious candidates, though none of them are perfect and they will struggle to have the pulling power of Dettori.
Oisin Murphy is the front-runner – but his career has been blighted by controversy over the last couple of years.
He is currently serving a 14-month ban for lying to racing authorities about his whereabouts and breaching Covid-19 protocols during the height of the pandemic, as well as failing a breath test for a third time.
He has since opened up about his struggle with alcohol abuse and he is said to regularly attend AA meetings.
He has also been banned in the past for testing positive for cocaine – so his reputation has suffered several hits.
However, the three-time champion jockey has a significant social media following and a huge legion of fans, while he is one of the few jockeys to have appeared on TV shows outside of the sport.
He was recently a contestant on the ‘Ultimate Hell Week’ SAS style show in Ireland and he starred in Amazon’s ‘Horse Power‘ documentary, so his reach goes beyond the racing bubble.
Plus, he is one of the most talented jockeys around.
Nobody can match Dettori in the charisma stakes, but Murphy at least shows some personality.
Other potential ‘faces’ of the sport are Tom Marquand and Hollie Doyle, racing’s golden couple.
Both have developed into top-class riders in recent seasons and are regulars at Group 1 level.
They recently returned from a stint in Japan where they have a huge following, but they are both a little on the reserved side and it’s doubtful they would relish being in the limelight 24/7.
Reigning champ William Buick is a top-class jockey but he is a family man who lives a quiet life.
He isn’t a natural fit, nor is Ryan Moore who is a world-class rider but avoids the spotlight like the plague.
In truth, when it comes to finding a new face of the sport, it looks like it’s Oisin Murphy or bust.
He has the following, the personality and the talent. Now he needs to get rid of his ‘bad boy’ image.
He returns from suspension on February 16 and the sport could desperately do without anymore scandals involving the Irishman going forward because, come November, he will become racing’s most famous face.
