ROYAL Ascot is the flagship meeting for flat racing in these parts. Worldwide viewers, World Pool betting. Its reach extends each year.

The viewing figures for the meeting from ITV’s main channel last week were very favourable. Peak figures of 1.186 million on Tuesday, over 1.2 million on Wednesday and 1.4 million on Thursday. There was no doubt who was the star performer.

Jockeys are among the most anonymous of sports people. Even Formula 1 drivers get to remove their gear and spray champagne from a winner’s podium for a memorable image. Racing is all about the horse, we’re often told, which is great. But, especially in the present day, it needs someone to be identifiable and communicate to an audience.

Frankie Dettori is one of the very few racing figures who crossed into mainstream consciousness. Most jockeys and trainers don’t even acknowledge that this is necessary. Oisin Murphy is perhaps one of the few. There were comments last week suggesting ‘oh, it’s too much about Frankie, the praise overdone’.

In a Daily Mail interview earlier this year, Dettori said: “My job is entertainment. From the minute I walk out of the house to the minute I walk back in, I am speaking to people, making them feel good. It is part of what you do. You are an actor. And the acting comes easily because you have been doing it for so long. When I started racing, I had to be like that to get on in my career. You have to sell yourself.”

There’s no other instantly recognisable jockey, and that’s a big worry for racing. No one can accuse Dettori of not continuing to sell himself, even at 48. But in doing so, he sells the sport too.