BLOG
FRANKIE’S ROYAL ASCOT FAREWELL: LEVERAGING A LEGEND
Tom Marriott reports on a few Dettori-focused takeaways from Royal Ascot 2023…
FRANKIE'S FINAL
ROYAL ASCOT FAREWELL!
ROYAL ASCOT 2023
The media spotlight was firmly fixed on Frankie Dettori at Royal Ascot this year. Wherever he moved, whatever he said and everything about his performance was closely followed over the five days, and Ascot Racecourse wanted to make sure they were leveraging the ‘Frankie factor’ to ensure maximum coverage of their flagship event.
I’ve taken a quick look at some of the activity Ascot undertook during the five days, focusing on how they utilised ‘Frankie’s Farewell’ to garner greater public attention of the meeting.
Setting the scene
A feature-length documentary on Frankie Dettori’s career, ‘A Royal Ascot Love Affair’ - commissioned by Ascot, hit our screens ahead of the five-day meeting.
Played out by broadcaster Sky Sports Racing, as well as being widely-shared on social media, this helped raise awareness of Frankie’s final time in the saddle at the famous meeting.
Saddle Cloths
To make sure Dettori departed Royal Ascot with a souvenir, Ascot were on hand to present the jockey with his final number of total Royal Ascot wins printed on a saddle cloth.
This created a great photo opportunity for media, with the only problem being they had to get a new one made up every time Frankie rode a winner!
So, after a fourth version was printed and pressed, Dettori finally bowed out on 81 winners. I wonder whether saddle cloths 78, 79 and 80 will have their place on the mantelpiece…
Royal Dettori
What better way to hype up the final day of the meeting than to place Frankie in the Royal Procession?
Racing royalty met, well, actual royalty, and the result was widespread coverage.
Frankie’s appearance drew extra attention to the 2pm parade, teeing things up nicely for viewership numbers ahead of the 2:30pm start to racing.
Frankie Dettori arrives for his final day at Royal @Ascot in the Royal Procession! pic.twitter.com/HIKJb2MWwX
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) June 24, 2023
A parting gift
As Frankie gave his final farewell from the winners’ podium at around 6:30pm on Saturday, Ascot presented him with a Nebuchadnezzar, a 15-litre bottle of champagne.
Almost as big as the 5ft 4in Italian himself, this produced another great photo opp for media.
The picture was carried across pages in a variety of major national newspapers, cementing Dettori’s joyous relationship with Ascot Racecourse.
Not quite the end
Thank you @FrankieDettori for all the #RoyalAscot memories ❤️ pic.twitter.com/GTLNQ9OZuS
— Ascot Racecourse (@Ascot) June 24, 2023
There will, however, be one final bite at the cherry for sponsors and Ascot alike to squeeze a little more juice out of Frankie when British Champions Day takes place in October.
Get ready for more emotive video stories, photocalls and flying dismounts!
Oh, and Ascot aside, the likes of York, Goodwood and Newmarket, not to mention the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita and Melbourne Cup at Flemington, will all be getting ready to take advantage of Frankie’s farewell.
It should be a fun and Frankie-filled few months.
Setting the scene
A feature-length documentary on Frankie Dettori’s career, ‘A Royal Ascot Love Affair’ - commissioned by Ascot, hit our screens ahead of the five-day meeting.
Played out by broadcaster Sky Sports Racing, as well as being widely-shared on social media, this helped raise awareness of Frankie’s final time in the saddle at the famous meeting.
Royal Dettori
What better way to hype up the final day of the meeting than to place Frankie in the Royal Procession?
Racing royalty met, well, actual royalty, and the result was widespread coverage.
Frankie’s appearance drew extra attention to the 2pm parade, teeing things up nicely for viewership numbers ahead of the 2:30pm start to racing.
Frankie Dettori arrives for his final day at Royal @Ascot in the Royal Procession! pic.twitter.com/HIKJb2MWwX
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) June 24, 2023
Saddle Cloths
To make sure Dettori departed Royal Ascot with a souvenir, Ascot were on hand to present the jockey with his final number of total Royal Ascot wins printed on a saddle cloth.
This created a great photo opportunity for media, with the only problem being they had to get a new one made up every time Frankie rode a winner!
So, after a fourth version was printed and pressed, Dettori finally bowed out on 81 winners. I wonder whether saddle cloths 78, 79 and 80 will have their place on the mantelpiece…
A parting gift
As Frankie gave his final farewell from the winners’ podium at around 6:30pm on Saturday, Ascot presented him with a Nebuchadnezzar, a 15-litre bottle of champagne.
Almost as big as the 5ft 4in Italian himself, this produced another great photo opp for media.
The picture was carried across pages in a variety of major national newspapers, cementing Dettori’s joyous relationship with Ascot Racecourse.
Not quite the end
Thank you @FrankieDettori for all the #RoyalAscot memories ❤️ pic.twitter.com/GTLNQ9OZuS
— Ascot Racecourse (@Ascot) June 24, 2023
There will, however, be one final bite at the cherry for sponsors and Ascot alike to squeeze a little more juice out of Frankie when British Champions Day takes place in October.
Get ready for more emotive video stories, photocalls and flying dismounts!
Oh, and Ascot aside, the likes of York, Goodwood and Newmarket, not to mention the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita and Melbourne Cup at Flemington, will all be getting ready to take advantage of Frankie’s farewell.
It should be a fun and Frankie-filled few months.