Dettori bows out with Grade 1 win in Brazil

Champion jockey Frankie Dettori has capped his remarkable career with a Grade 1 victory in Brazil, completing a winning double at Gavea in Rio de Janeiro to bring down the curtain after 40 years in the saddle.

His South American stopover couldn’t have gone any better, with the Italian jockey, 55, guiding three-year-old Bet You Can to win the Grade 1 Grande Premio Estado (2000 Guineas) on his final day of race riding. The horse started at odds of $26.

The 2000 Guineas was the first leg of Brazil’s Triple Crown and Dettori’s 288th win at the highest level during his long and distinguished career which included riding the card at Ascot in September 1996.

Dettori earlier won on Speak Alpha in a 1200-metre allowance race at Gavea.

After winning at his first ride in Rio de Janeiro, Dettori told the Racing Post: “I can rest now, whatever else happens today. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to finish. 

“From the minute I got on the horse, it has been phenomenal. It’s a great place to finish, trust me. I’m very happy.”

Dettori delayed his intended retirement, announced in 2022, by relocating to the United States to continue his career in 2023,  where he rode 25 stakes winners. Late last year he announced that it was time to hang up the boots for good but not before a cameo in Brazil.

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