Is Frankie Dettori being driven into retirement against his will?

So it wasn’t to be the perfect ending for Frankie Dettori at Doncaster on Saturday, finishing second on Arrest in what was his final British Classic. Or was it?

Dettori’s body language is never the same each time he is asked about retirement – sometimes a smile suggesting he is on the verge of postponing it, at other times happy to toe the official line – but he has come up with a fresh take in recent weeks that got another airing on Town Moor.

After victory in the Ebor at York last month, Dettori said he might reconsider retiring if the right offer came along. He reiterated the point last weekend, saying: “It will have to be big, big, big!”