Frankie Dettori memorabilia from illustrious career raises thousands of pounds
Frankie Dettori has raised tens of thousands of pounds from a sale of unwanted trophies and riding gear gathered over his 35-year riding career.
The superstar jockey had a clear out of the family home in Newmarket, Suffolk, because he is moving house.
He put together 126 items which were put under the hammer at auction, including the trophy he received from his latest Classic victory, on Soul Sister in the Betfred Oaks in June this year.
Dettori, 52, is due to retire from the saddle at the end of the year and had pledged some of the proceeds to the charity Direct Aid For Africa (DAFA), and some to his five children, including daughter Ella who is getting married this year.
The top seller at the online auction run by Cheffins in Cambridge was the Oaks trophy which sold for £5,000 to a UK buyer.
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Also sold were a pair of signed racing boots from a race in Saudi Arabia for £2,800, a signed racing saddle used by Dettori at Epsom for £1,400 and a set of the royal blue Godolphin silks which went for £4,600 to a buyer from Japan.
A set of weighing scales, which were given to Dettori by US legend Steve Cauthen and which Dettori claims he has been “jumping on and off fo r over 30 years”, were sold for £550.
Speaking before the sale, Dettori said: “We’re scaling down and I’ve got so much stuff, we thought we might as well just auction it.
“I didn’t realise because they end up in drawers, in cupboards, in the cellar, I mean they’re all over the place.
“Now we’re clearing up a lot of stuff, we didn’t realise how much accumulated in so many years.”
Frankie Dettori standing on the scales which sold for £550 (PA)He continued: “All my kids have branched out so it’s only myself and Catherine my wife left so we’re planning to rent the house, scale down and move towards London a bit. And I’d like to travel the world a bit.”
Harriet Lusty, deputy saleroom manager at Cheffins, said: “This auction brought buyers from the world over to Cheffins, with bidders online from Australia, Hong Kong, USA, Japan, the UK and throughout Europe.
“This really was a one-off opportunity for many of Frankie’s army of fans to buy a part of sporting history and own a piece of memorabilia from one of the greatest sports personalities worldwide.
“As Frankie is such a household name and easily the most famous person in the history of horse racing, we did expect to see a great deal of interest in this sale, however some of the prices achieved for the more important lots have been unprecedented.
“We were delighted to be able to assist the Dettori family in scaling down the numbers of trophies and memorabilia items kept at the house and would like to congratulate the lucky buyers who were successful during the sale.”
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