FRANKIE Dettori is one of the most decorated, record-breaking equestrians of all time — and he’s also appearing in I’m A Celebrity 2023.
But who is his jockey father Gianfranco, and which races did Detorri’s dad compete in?
Who is Frankie Dettori’s dad Gianfranco?
Frankie Detorri is the son of Sardinian jockey Gianfranco, a prolific horse racing winner in Italy, who was born on April 25, 1941.
Gianfranco was married to Frankie’s mother Christine, but the couple got divorced when Dettori was a baby.
Dettori told The Big Issue: “My parents got divorced when I was six months old, and at first I lived with my mum, who comes from the circus.
“She was a trapeze artist, contortionist, standing on horses — she did all that.
“My mum, my uncle, my uncle’s brother, they were all in the circus.
“I remember as a young kid, before I was five, going to see my relatives in the circus.
“This was in the early ’70s so they had lots of animals; four lions, six monkeys, an elephant, all chained up in cages.
“If you tell people that they say ‘how cruel you were’ — but that was the way the world worked then.”
A 13-time champion jockey in their homeland, Gianfranco sent his boy to Newmarket as a teenager to set him on the path to glory.
Asked in a 2023 interview with the Guardian whether his dad had ever told him ‘well done’, Frankie said: “My dad? Rare. It’s that rare, I can’t remember.”
And when asked about whether his father would congratulate him on a glittering career following his his final race on British soil at Ascot on October 21, 2023, Dettori explained: “No chance. Dad is set in his ways.
“For years he hurt me, but now that I know his character, it doesn’t affect me in the slightest.”
What races did Gianfranco compete in?
As well as being a 13-time Italian champion jockey, Gianfranco also enjoyed success in British Classic Races.
He won the 2,000 Guineas on Bolkonski in 1975 and repeated the feat on Wollow in 1976 — both horses owned by Carlo d’Alessio and trained by Henry Cecil.
In 1967 Gianfranco also went on to win the Benson & Hedges Gold Cup as well as the Eclipse Stakes.
What is Frankie Dettori’s net worth?
According to most reports Frankie is worth between £15million and £18million.
The Italian had made an estimated £153million in career earnings back in 2022.
Online Betting Guide (OLGB) has Dettori in 37th for the top 50 highest-earning jockeys in the world.
The jockey’s best year came in 2019 when he won a colossal £7,365,868.
Who is Frankie Dettori’s wife Catherine?
Dettori’s wife Catherine is reportedly a stay-at-home mum.
Frankie met Catherine while she was at university — he first clapped eyes on her while she was leading a horse he was riding up at Haydock.
The couple got married in July, 1997 in New Market, England and the family currently resides in Stetchworth near Newmarket, Suffolk.
Catherine’s dad Professor William “Twink” Allen, was a candidate in UKIP elections in 2015.
Originally from New Zealand, William’s not a stranger to the world of horse racing — he is well known within the Newmarket horse community for being involved with breeding.
Frankie and Catherine have five children together: Leo, Ella, Mia, Tallula and Rocco.
Of all of his children, Dettori believed his youngest boy, Rocco, was most likely to take up horse-riding professionally.
In 2015 Frankie explained: “If I had to tip one, it’s him. He has the physique and likes to go flat out.”
But during the Covid-19 pandemic, Rocco’s gym routine led to him bulking up, with Dettori saying: “… he went into the gym and he turned out to be a pretty robust guy, strong and muscly, so unfortunately his career is gone somewhere else.
“He still loves his riding but he is way too big and too strong.”
His second eldest child Ella competed in her first ever race as a jockey in July 2021, when she was 19 years old.
She made her debut in the charity Magnolia Cup race at Glorious Goodwood.
The contest finished in a dramatic dead-heat, with the judges unable to split the two leading runners.
After the race, Ella said: “Dad gave me a few tips before the race.
“I hope I made him proud, that was my aim.”
