Racing

Frankie Dettori reveals he is filing for bankruptcy in shock statement

‘I am saddened and embarrassed by this outcome’

Frankie Dettori has filed for bankruptcy after failing to resolve a dispute over unpaid tax with the UK revenue authority. Photograph: John Walton/PA Wire
Frankie Dettori has filed for bankruptcy after failing to resolve a dispute over unpaid tax with the UK revenue authority. Photograph: John Walton/PA Wire
Greg Wood
Thu Mar 13 2025 - 16:20

Frankie Dettori, one of the most successful and popular racing figures of recent decades, said in a statement on Thursday that he is “saddened and embarrassed” at being forced to file for bankruptcy having failed to resolve a dispute over unpaid tax with the UK revenue authority.

Dettori was revealed to be in dispute with HMRC over a scheme to reduce his income tax payments in December 2024, when an injunction to prevent him being named was lifted following an application by HMRC and media organisations.

At the time, Dettori said that he had been working with tax officials to “unravel the mess” around his financial affairs, which he said had been caused by former advisers. In his statement on Thursday, however, he conceded that it had not been possible to work out a solution.

“For the last six months, my advisers have been working with HMRC in an attempt to find a solution to my financial situation,” Dettori said in a statement. “Regretfully, I will be filing for bankruptcy.

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“I am saddened and embarrassed by this outcome and would advise others to take a stronger rein over their financial matters.

“Bankruptcy is a major decision and its consequences will affect me for many years.”

Dettori, who rode hundreds of major winners in Britain and abroad during a glittering 35-year career in the saddle, has been living and riding in California since the end of the 2023. He left the European stage with a flourish, winning the Champion Stakes at Ascot, Britain’s most valuable race, aboard King Of Steel.

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He was also one of very few riders to enjoy a high profile with the general public, not least as a result of his extraordinary achievement in riding all seven winners on a single card at Ascot in 1996.

He also appeared as a team captain for several seasons of the BBC’s Question Of Sport, while business ventures outside racing included Frankie’s Bar & Grill, a chain of restaurants in the UK and Dubai, launched in association with the chef, Marco Pierre White. – Guardian