FRANKIE `ECSTATIC` AT HONORARY AWARD Frankie Dettori was today awarded an Honorary MBE in Britain`s New Year`s Honours List for his services to racing. The MBE is honorary because the former champion jockey is Italian. Dettori has just returned to his Newmarket home having spent Christmas with his parents in Italy. He said: 'I`m absolutely ecstatic at getting the award for not only myself but also my family - I`m overjoyed.' No rider has been so widely recognised by the public since the days of Lester Piggott. The Italian still has a few big prizes to win - the Derby has so far eluded him - but in his career the 30-year-old has done much to illuminate a sport all too short on characters. Dettori is not only known for his obvious gift as a jockey but he has also become renowned for his media-friendly, infectious personality. His achievement in riding seven winners from seven rides at the Ascot Festival in 1996 moved racing from the remote corners of the sports section right to the front page. The unique feat did much to focus attention on horse racing from the outside, something which can only be to the sport`s benefit. That it could do so is typically Dettori, whose good looks and genial disposition make him racing`s hottest property. However, this year will be best remembered for his escape, along with fellow jockey Ray Cochrane, from a light plane crash at Newmarket on June 1, which claimed the life of the pilot Patrick Mackey. Cochrane pulled Dettori, who suffered a broken ankle in the incident, clear of the wreckage. Dettori did not return to race-riding until August 5 when he won on his first two rides. The now-retired Cochrane, who recently became Dettori`s agent, was quick to pay tribute to his long-time friend. He said: 'It`s a great honour for him and a great achievement in racing particularly for a jockey. It raises the profile of jockeys.' Dettori, whose father Gianfranco rode two 2000 Guineas winers in the 1970s, began his career in Italy and partnered his first winner when Billy Pitt won at Turin on November 9, 1986. Soon afterwards he came to Britain, where he became apprenticed to Luca Cumani`s Newmarket yard, and it did not take long before he had established himself as a star of the future. Dettori`s first winner in this country came aboard Lizzy Hare for Cumani at Goodwood in June 1987. Two years later, Dettori was crowned champion apprentice with 75 winners and in 1990, aged 19, he became the first teenager since Piggott to partner 100 winners in a season. Dettori became champion jockey in 1994 with 233 winners and headed the list the following year with 211. Cumani was pleased to hear of Dettori`s award. He said: 'I`m delighted for him. He thoroughly deserves it. He`s a great ambassador for the sport - a great guy.' Cumani remembered Dettori`s early days at his Bedford House stables. 'Frankie was a talent from the first day he arrived. He has a great affinity with the horse,'he said.
