Former top jockey Dettori breaks ribs in car crash

Police said officers were called to “reports of a collision between a car and a motorbike” on Wednesday evening.

Dettori’s management company said the 55-year-old Italian had been driving the car which was struck on the rear passenger side causing it to spin and flip.

“Frankie was taken to hospital, where he was found to have sustained several broken ribs and a broken thumb,” H Talent Management said.

“His injuries are still being assessed and he remains in hospital for further scans and observation. His focus is now on resting and recovering.”

The statement added there would be no further comment “until there is a meaningful update”.

Dettori has not ridden in Britain since October 2023 when he won the Champion Stakes on King Of Steel at Ascot, southwest of London.

In June 2000, Dettori survived a light aircraft crash in Newmarket — the headquarters of English flat-racing — that killed pilot Patrick Mackey, being dragged out of the wreckage by fellow jockey Ray Cochrane, who went on to be the Italian-born rider’s agent.

Dettori is one of the most successful flat-race jockeys of his generation, with 23 British Classics to his credit, as well as six wins in France’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

A popular figure beyond the confines of racing in his adopted homeland, arguably Dettori’s most celebrated achievement was riding all seven winners in a day’s racing at Ascot in 1996.

But he was made bankrupt in 2025 and this was extended by 12 months in March this year, with Dettori said to have not complied with orders requiring him to fully disclose his assets.