Desert Island Discs Revisited

Original version

BBC Radio 4 Extra

Factual: Life Stories

Selected castaway gems from the BBC Desert Island Discs archive.

Desert Island Discs Revisited: Racing Castaways: Frankie Dettori

Frankie Dettori

Racing Castaways

Desert Island Discs

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Desert Island Discs Revisited, Racing Castaways, Frankie Dettori

Champion jockey Frankie Dettori is castaway by Sue Lawley.

4 Extra Debut. From Bob Marley to Robbie Williams. Champion racing jockey Frankie Dettori shares his music choices with Sue Lawley. From 2006.

Champion horse racing jockey Frankie Dettori is castaway by Sue Lawley.

Over the past two decades he's won more than 2,000 races including most of the classics at home and abroad and has been Champion Jockey three times. 

The son of a famous Italian jockey, he was brought up in Italy but sent by his father to train at Newmarket when he was 14 years old - 18 months later he was winning races. In 1996 he won seven races out of seven in a single day at Ascot - a feat that has not been achieved before or since.

But in 2000 he thought his luck had run out when he and fellow jockey Ray Cochrane left Newmarket in a light aircraft - only for it to plunge to the ground moments after take-off. He thought he was about to die and on coming round in the wreckage was not sure whether he was alive or dead. The event left him undecided as to what to do next. He was a hugely popular team captain on BBC TV's A Question of Sport for two years, but a chance remark from one of the contestants who thought he had retired made him realise he had to focus on being a jockey. 

He returned to the sport with a renewed vigour and became Champion jockey once again. Now a father of five, Frankie plans to retire at 45 and hopes that by then he will have won the Epsom Derby - the only major title that has so far eluded him.

DISC ONE: Life is a Rollercoaster - Ronan Keating
DISC TWO: Back in Black - AC/DC
DISC THREE: Into the Groove - Madonna 
DISC FOUR: Three Little Birds - Bob Marley & The Wailers 
DISC FIVE: Amazing Grace - Royal Scots Dragoon Guards 
DISC SIX: Fairground - Simply Red 
DISC SEVEN: Feel - Robbie Williams 
DISC EIGHT: Insomnia - Faithless 

BOOK CHOICE: The History of the Derby  
LUXURY CHOICE: Lifetime supply of Pinot Grigio  
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Amazing Grace - Royal Scots Dragoon Guards

Producer: Leanne Buckle

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2006.

Desert Island Discs Revisited: Racing Castaways

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama. With recent favourites from BBC Radio 4.

A collection of horse racing castaways share their desert island choices.

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