Racing legend Frankie Dettori filed for bankruptcy in March 2025 and concerns arose over his ability to pay a tax bill worth more than £750,000 amid investigations into tax avoidance
Former jockey Frankie Dettori remains legally bankrupt for a further year after a judge ruled that his bankruptcy should not be automatically discharged. A specialist hearing on Thursday saw lawyers for the two trustees of Mr Dettori’s bankruptcy ask for the order to remain in place for a further year.
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. Dettori did not appear at the hearing and was not represented.
The jockey, who retired from racing last month, filed for bankruptcy in March 2025 after attempting to untangle his tax affairs in the United Kingdom, following a challenge by HMRC. The 55-year-old lost a legal battle over his anonymity in proceedings at a specialist tax tribunal as he revealed issues had arisen after he had employed specialist tax advisers to look after his and his family’s financial affairs.
In January, liquidators said Dettori was “not expected” to be able to pay the huge tax debt he had racked up. The jockey owed £765,542 to HMRC and £6,391 to a car leasing company, with the liquidators’ fees taking the debt to nearly £900,000.
Stefan Ramel, for the trustees, told the court in London on Thursday 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.
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 Mr 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 Mr 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 Mr 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”.
Mr Dettori initially retired 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.
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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 Mr 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.
