At the time of writing, Frankie Dettori is probably thinking about the upcoming Royal Ascot 2019, perhaps considering his tactics to use when he rides last year's Gold Cup Winner, Stradivarius, at the festival. The jockey is now 48, but despite intense speculation, he has never given much indication of hanging up his boots. Nor is there any reason why he should, given the steady stream of big-race wins that still seem to come his way.
Ascot Racecourse, is, of course, the scene of Dettori's most incredible triumph: Seven rides and seven winners on one magical day in 1996, achieved at accumulative odds almost unfathomable to even the most ambitious punter. People still talk about it decades later; such was the improbability of winning all seven races at a prestigious event.
The feat, which will probably never be equaled in our lifetimes, was celebrated in an online casino game, a slot machine called Frankie Dettori's Magic Seven. The game, created by software giants Playtech, is widely lauded in the casino industry as a successful example of a branded casino game.
Branding has become important in the casino industry
The practice of branding casino games such as american roulette, which could involve anything from creating a game to tie in with a movie to using a celebrity to front it (anyone from Marilyn Monroe to Motorhead), has increased in recent years, and it is widely accepted as a means to get crossover appeal and encourage new players to try a casino game.
Yet, Dettori's Magic Seven slot released back in 2010, is widely seen as the first truly successful examples of this celebrity branding in casino games. The game is still given prominence at many online casinos, which is obviously a sign it still remains popular with players almost a decade after its release.
Dettori's portfolio expanded over the last couple of years. It includes Franke Dettori's Jackpot Roulette, which you can play by visiting casino.com/ca/roulette/; Frankie Dettori's Magic Seven Blackjack; and, a couple of other variants on the Magic Seven Game. Again, we can deduce their popularity by the prominence the games are given at online casinos.
Dettori's range of games could expand again
In the last couple of months, Dettori and Playtech have teamed up again through the latter's Sporting Legends range. Frankie Dettori: Sporting Legend slot shares features and jackpots with other games featuring sports stars like Ronnie O'Sullivan and fellow jockey Sir Tony McCoy. These series usually expand after the initial launch, so expect other sports stars to get their own game soon.
While we have mentioned that celebrity-branding is not uncommon, it's almost unheard of to have an entire range of games dedicated to an individual person, especially if that person is not associated with casinos in the first place. Indeed, rather bizarrely, Dettori's 'rivals' for fronting casino games are either fictitious (there are several Batman and Superman casino games) or are historical figures like Cleopatra.
It's not clear how Dettori is remunerated for becoming an almost mascot-like figure for an expanding range of casino games, but it's clear that they might be still around long after the legendary Italian rider has called it a day on a glittering career.
