Epsom Derby: How Frankie Dettori came back from exile

The dapper Dettori, christened Lanfranco, is not permanently the flamboyant figure that largely comes across in the media.

He has enjoyed a celebrity lifestyle, once presented Top of the Pops, is friends with the likes of actor and former footballer Vinnie Jones, and has a number of restaurants called Frankie’s with chef Marco Pierre-White.

But in a recent Guardian interview,, external he said: “My wife Catherine says I’ve got bipolar [disorder] because sometimes I’m happy, sometimes I’m not, and I’ve got the concentration span of the flea. She’s got a point – I’m often up and down.”

The drugs ban hit him hard. His own fault, of course. But he didn’t like being in the wilderness, and retained the thirst for winning.