How Frankie Dettori rakes it in away from racing – from ‘huge I’m A Celeb fee’ to £15k-a-month mansion & £82 ‘pep talks’
FRANKIE DETTORI bowed out of Britsh racing with one of the rides of his life – but it’s his bank manager who’ll really be celebrating over the coming months.
That’s because the world’s most famous jockey, 52, looks set to absolutely rake it in at home and abroad over the coming weeks.
Dettori will cash in on his awesome fame before beginning the next stage of his life in the US with wife CatherinePA
Whether it’s being paid £82 a pop to record 30-second ‘pep talks’ or renting out his £15,000-a-month mansion, the jockey has found a whole load of winners off the racecourse.
Dettori enjoyed a decent pay day at Ascot last Saturday, his final day racing in Britain – until he almost certainly returns for next year’s Royal Ascot.
The most marketable jockey ever pocketed around £70,000 for his thrilling last-to-first ride on King Of Steel in the Champion Stakes.
Dettori brought the house down exactly two-and-a-half hours after he made around £28,000 with victory on Trawlerman in the Long Distance Cup.
Yet even that £100,000 pay day pales in comparison next to the rumoured half a million quid he will make going on I’m A Celeb.
Dettori is heavy odds-on to join Ant & Dec in the jungle, and he very well could make it a second straight sporting winner after Jill Scott was voted champion last year.
The charismatic jockey looks a natural fit for Bushtucker Trials – and appearing on the ITV looks set to coincide with his time Down Under, where he’ll look to pick up a couple of money-spinning rides during Australia’s Spring Carnival.
A TV insider told The Sun: “Frankie is a superstar signing for jungle casting producers as he is a legend in the horse racing world and would be reality TV gold.
“He might be pint-sized, but his personality is larger than life and he has real charm and a sense of humour.
“Frankie would be brilliant in the Bushtucker Trials too as being competitive is second nature to him.
“He’s also got a wealth of stories he could tell around the campfire to keep other campmates entertained.
“Plus, as a jockey, he’s had to keep his weight down his whole life so he can help coach the other starving contestants surviving on rice and beans.”
Although talks around his fee remain very hush hush, the £500,000 figure would sound about right, with Matt Hancock making £320,000 when he went on.
Back in Blighty, Dettori has confirmed he is renting out his sprawling Newmarket mansion.
Put on the market at £15,000 a month, the huge seven-bedroom mansion complete with swimming pool and ‘sulking room’ – where Dettori would go for a big glass of red after a bad ride – is being occupied by someone else.
Dettori and wife Catherine bought the original property – home to his ‘frightening’ Ferrari – for £570,000 in 2003.
The ‘bloody expensive’ renovation they have carried out took about 15 years all in and was part-funded by the £2.15million sale of their old 15-acre, six-bedroom house in 2015.
Inside there is also a cinema room, a grand reception hall with sweeping marble staircase and an enormous family room and kitchen/living area.
There are six en suites and walk-in wardrobes to go with the seven bedrooms, a games room and big study.
Dettori has also joined stars such as his Arsenal idols Ray Parlour and David Seaman on video messaging service Cameo.
You can pay £82 for Dettori to wish you happy birthday, give you a pep talk or ‘roast’ you – in other words, take the mick.
The average video length is 27 seconds, with some as short as 12, so the side gig is a decent little earner for very little work.
And it comes on top of his sponsorship deals with the likes of insurance group Howden and RacingBreaks.
Even if it all goes wrong, Dettori will always have something to fall back on.
After all, the cook book he launched with pal Marco Pierre White in 2007 is still available on Amazon for £1.97.
OK, so maybe there’s a few zeros missing from that to get Dettori interested.
But there’s no doubt, after 38 years, he’s still proving just as popular off the track as he is on it.
ReutersHorse Racing – QIPCO British Champions Day – Ascot Racecourse, Ascot, Britain – October 21, 2023 Frankie Dettori celebrates after winning the 15:45 Qipco Champion Stakes, his last race in Britain Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs[/caption]
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