How ageism and dodgy knees can protect sportsmen from themselves

I worry about Frankie Dettori every time he has a Group 1 winner. I watch him ride back into the winner's enclosure and I see him shift his feet and adjust his body position and we all know what's coming next.

He launches that limber Mediterranean frame into the lower stratosphere, then narrowly avoids burning up on re-entry and hits the ground with a bend of the knees and a flex of the ankles and an entertainer's grin.

The grin's the only bit that doesn't really trouble me, although I have to confess to moments of slight unease that he might land awkwardly one day and his dentures will fly out and bite the owner's wife on the backside.