Frankie Dettori admits getting in a automobile now terrifies him after horror crash
Hero jockey Frankie Dettori has told how his car crash horror has left him mentally scarred about getting into a motor again.
The horse racing legend, a seven-time Ascot champion, was left “very sore” after he broke his ribs and a thumb in a smash near Newmarket, Suffolk, back in July. Another vehicle struck the rear passenger side of the car the 55-year-old was driving, causing it to spin and flip.
Frankie has been recovering ever since. He was aiming to race a horse again at the St Leger festival this weekend in a special ‘legends’ race but was forced to pull out due to his recovery.
Frankie Dettori commentates during the Betfred Leger Legends race(Image: Tim Merry/Staff Photographer)
He plans to get back in the saddle for next year’s Leger Legends Race. But when it comes to cars he admitted he’s struggling. Watching the action at St Leger in Doncaster on Friday, we asked Frankie whether the crash has impacted his mentality.
The star said: “Not about horse racing but being in a car on the road. It wasn’t a walk in the park let me tell you. I’ve been in the car but it is not funny.”
He paid tribute to the doctors and nurses who came to his aid after the crash this summer. The sportsman shared a photo on social media of himself in his hospital bed a day after the accident and said he would be “taking some time to rest and recover”.
Frankie in hospital(Image: frankiedettori_/Instagram )
“A huge thank you… to the fantastic emergency staff who looked after me,” he added. “I’m very sore and have a few broken ribs.”
Frankie was due to race in the Leger Legends Race this weekend – the only UK race run exclusively by ex-pro riders to raise funds for the Injured Jockeys Fund (IJF) – after retiring from the sport in 2023.
On what he misses most about horse racing, Frankie said: “I would say the crowd. I don’t really miss being a jockey because when I see these lads now, mentally and physically you have to be so fit and I am far from it at the moment.”
Frankie Dettori with jockeys from the Betfred Leger Legends race from which he had to withdraw from(Image: Tim Merry/Staff Photographer)
He said of plans to race again at the Legends event next year: “I don’t think I’ll ever reach that level but it is alright to do it just once. All the guys doing it – they want to relive the day of being a jockey, putting on your colours and your boots and racing in front of a crowd – back down memory lane.”
On his favourite career memory, Frankie said: “I would say winning the seven at Ascot. At Doncaster, I was lucky enough to win six St Leger’s.
“It has been a very lucky place for me but it is not all about me now. It is about the guys doing it and the Injured Jockeys Fund who, over 60 years, have put effort and charity into supporting the fellow jockeys who had accidents.
The jockey after the Betfred St Leger Stakes during the Betfred St Leger Festival at Doncaster Racecourse in 2023(Image: PA)
“May it long continue, because it is a very risky sport and we need to look after the people who didn’t have as much luck as I did. That is why I am here for the beautiful St Leger’s race.”
On the importance of the jockeys’ fund, he added: “Without them, it would be a big problem. Insurance only covers you for so long. It is not just jockeys, a lot of people who work in racing need looking after.”
In June 2000, Dettori survived a light aircraft crash in Newmarket which killed pilot Patrick Mackey. Fellow jockey Ray Cochrane, who went on to be Dettori’s agent, also survived the plane crash.
