There is only one man in racing who could pop up on London’s Southbank — not exactly deep equine country — on the autumn’s first truly miserable morning and have his press call disrupted by a stream of early-bird joggers eager for selfies.
The scene is a slightly strange one, the chap in question bouncing around on a trampoline as photographers capture his famous flying dismount with Big Ben as the rather out-of-place backdrop. The rotating cast of double-taking plodders, though, offer some indication of the hole that will be left in the sport in this country when its most recognisable figure, Frankie Dettori, waves goodbye.
