The culmination of the most extraordinary day's racing

Fujiyama Crest
1996 Gordon Carter Handicap, Ascot
Dettori made all on a willing partner, saw off the sustained challenge of the runner-up inside the final furlong and held on by a neck. And so the bare report tells us very little, for this was the culmination of the most extraordinary day’s racing – the Magnificent Seven. When Dettori went out on Fujiyama Crest – a 16-1 chance masquerading as 2-1 favourite – he already had six wins to his name on the day, a remarkable feat but not unique. He probably felt no pressure, surfing a wave of confidence that was outrageous even for him, but this was great history in the making, a race newly endowed with great importance, for after all that had gone before he simply had to win this race too. He did not disappoint. No-one who saw it will ever forget this ride.

Fantastic Light
2001 Irish Champion Stakes
One of the great tactical rides. Fantastic Light and Galileo, the two best horses in Europe, had met at Ascot where Galileo prevailed, but this time the tables were turned in thrilling style. Dettori waited on the rail behind pacemaker Give The Slip, and when that horse drifted slightly right on the home turn he pushed Fantastic Light through the gap and into the lead. It was a crucial move – he had first run aboard a top-class galloper, and although Galileo was soon at his girth he could never get nearer. After the finesse came the fury – Dettori drove his mount to the line with unflinching strength and determination.

Golden Horn
2015 Derby
This would not rank among Dettori’s great technical feats of riding – he was on the best horse in the race and enjoyed a straightforward run – but as far as personal satisfaction goes it is arguably top of the heap. Two years earlier he was the forgotten man of racing, now here he was again on the greatest stage, the hero of the hour in his rightful place. He pushed out Golden Horn into a glory he must have thought would never come again, and all the more memorable for it. “It was the best emotion I ever had,” he told the Daily Telegraph. “For a million reasons. Coming back from being so down, from nearly quitting, to find another chance, a Derby favourite and winning: it was tremendous. It was my renaissance.”