Frankie Dettori fans fume at rubbish move at Royal Ascot which comes just three months after the 54-year-old horse racing legend revealed that he is filing for bankruptcy
22:33, 18 Jun 2025Updated 22:36, 18 Jun 2025
Frankie is on the receiving end of a royal binning (Image: Tim Merry/Staff Photographer)
Frankie Dettori fell at the last at Royal Ascot after a statue marking his biggest moment in racing was hidden away behind an army of wheelie bins.
Race-goers arriving at the posh festival in top hats, morning suits and fancy frocks were stunned to find the bronze – showing the super jockey performing one of his trademark flying dismounts – shunted to one side with the rubbish. It comes three months after Dettori, 54, announced he was filing for bankruptcy.
One reveller said: “It looks like Frankie’s been dumped.” Another joked: “Bloody hell…it’s just like Birmingham.’’ The statue was built to mark the moment Dettori wrote his name into the annals of history by winning all seven races on the same day at the Berkshire course 29 years ago.
Frankie’s ‘Magnificent Seven’ triumphs at odds of more than 25,000/1 at the Festival of British Racing in September 1996 cleaned the bookies out of £1m – and has never been matched since. News of the triumph – which Dettori celebrated with seven of his famous parade ring leaps from the saddle – earned him and the racecourse worldwide fame.
The statue was erected by Ascot bosses in 2001 and is situated inside the entrance gate to the Royal Enclosure through which tens of thousands of racing fans arrived at this year’s meeting.
Spot the iconic racer (Image: Tim Merry/Staff Photographer)
Most simply walked past without apparently spotting it lurking behind the bins and a new hydration station brought in to offer hot fans free water. On the opening day visitors appeared to ignore the memorial as they emptied food wrappers, coffee cups and other rubbish into a trio of wheelies in front of it.
On Wednesday (June 18) the bin army had grown. There were six wheelies lined up in front of it – with two giant industrial rubbish containers behind. When an official spotted photographers taking pictures of the bins two were wheeled away and the others were hastily moved to the side.
One top-hatted visitor sniffed: “It’s a shame. Frankie’s a hero to everyone here. He’s won us all money. I think they should leave the bins where they are and move the statue to a more prominent position. Lots of people will want selfies taken with it. They’re missing a trick.’’
The statue has been mostly ignored by race-goers at Royal Ascot this year(Image: Jerry Lawton)
Another racing fan added: “It’s like an after-thought. It should be in the parade ring to mark where he did his dismounts. It’s a bloody outrage.” A racing wag said: “I guess this just proves one minute you’re hot and the next you’re not. It’s a bit like someone’s book ending up in the bargain basement section.”
A spokesman for a major Irish bookmaker said: “It does seem just a little bit trashy of Ascot at Britain’s showpiece meeting to place the bins in front of Frankie after the Italian stallion smashed us for millions with his 25,000/1 Magnificent Seven.”
Another bookie said: “It looks a bit disrespectful. He’s a giant of racing.” Ascot does have a second Dettori statue.
It was unveiled by Queen Camilla at British Champions Day two years ago after he announced he was hanging up his saddle in the UK. Since his first Ascot ride in 1987 he had notched up 231 winners at the racecourse – including 81 at Royal meetings.
Frankie’s ‘Magnificent Seven’ in 1996 has never been matched (Image: Getty Images)
Frankie said at the time: “Ascot has been everything to me – my first Group 1 winner when I was 18 – it is where it all started and concludes with nine Gold Cups, seven King Georges, 81 winners at Royal Ascot.
“It’s wonderful to be immortalised at such a great track, and to have your own statue while you are still alive. Wow!”
In March Dettori – a mainstay of the Brit and European flat-racing for 37 years during which time he rode more than 3,300 winners – filed for bankruptcy after being unable to reach agreement with His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs over a long-running case of tax avoidance.
He said he felt ‘embarrassed’. Dettori, who has continued to ride in the US with great success, was at the opening day of this year’s Royal meeting and hinted he may make a comeback.
Neither he nor Ascot had responded to requests for comment.
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.