Frankie Dettori’s bankruptcy extended by judge

Frankie Dettori will remain legally bankrupt for a further year after a judge at a specialist insolvency court ruled his bankruptcy should not be automatically discharged.

The Italian, who retired from riding last month, filed for bankruptcy in March last year due to unpaid tax resulting from his involvement in a “tax avoidance scheme”.

He said at the time he was “saddened and embarrassed” to have to take the measure after being left to “unravel the mess” in which a previous financial adviser left him.

Bankruptcy orders end automatically after a year in England and Wales, but can be extended by a judge, meaning the bankrupt is still bound by its terms and can face criminal prosecution if they do not co-operate.

At a hearing on Thursday, lawyers for the two trustees of Dettori’s bankruptcy asked for the order to remain in place for a further year.

Stefan Ramel, for the trustees, told the court in London that the former jockey “has not complied and is still not complying” with requests for information about his assets, including whether he owns properties abroad.

Dettori did not appear at the hearing and was not represented.

Chief Insolvency and Companies Court Judge Nicholas Briggs ruled that the bankruptcy order could continue until March 16 2027, which he said was “not an unrealistic period” given the “blatant failure” by Dettori to provide information when asked.

He said: “There is much to uncover in this bankruptcy, and it may well be that criminal sanctions will be a useful tool for the trustees.”

The judge said that the trustees interviewed Dettori in December last year about his assets, and when asked if he had ever owned properties abroad, he “said he did not”.

But he said it was later discovered that there were “a number of properties that had not been disclosed to the trustees, in particular in France and Italy”.

Judge Briggs continued that there were “other concerns”, including a Piaget watch, a wine collection worth around £70,000 and investments worth around £365,000.

He also said that Dettori could have attended court to make representations as to why an order should have been made, or instructed lawyers, but has “failed to do so”.

Dettori initially announced he would retire on Champions Day at Ascot in 2023, but later reversed his decision and continued his career in the United States and South America before his final race in February.

The jockey, who won every British Classic at least twice during his career and was British champion on three occasions, has since taken up an ambassadorial role for the Amo Racing team.

He has previously been embroiled in legal battles over his tax affairs, and in 2024 lost a bid to remain anonymous in proceedings at a specialist tax tribunal.

He originally brought an appeal to the First Tier Tribunal against HMRC’s decision to deny him some deductions for income tax.

In 2019, he asked for his case to be paused, and more than a year later, asked not to be named and for his case to be heard in private.

A judge in 2021 said that the “preliminary matters” could be heard in private, while a different judge in 2022 ruled that Dettori should be anonymised.

HMRC and media organisations, including the Press Association, challenged the decision, with the more senior Upper Tribunal ruling in December 2024 that there had been “material errors of law” and overturning the decision to have some of the hearings in his case in private.