MoST good things in life come to an end at some time, but the racing world was still taken aback yesterday when news of Frankie Dettori's split with Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin operation filtered through.

It transpires that the Italian rider has had enough. With Mickael Barzalona and Silvestre de Sousa having been brought into the Godolphin team, Dettori must have felt slightly uneasy, and issued the bombshell announcement that he would be turning his back on the Sheikh. They had been a partnership for the past 18 years and success came galloping along on a regular basis – until recently.

The situation became crystal clear when Dettori, overlooked by Godolphin in favour of Barzalona, was set to be on the sidelines during the recent Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp, until the Coolmore operation stepped in and gave Dettori the ride on Derby winner Camelot.

It is fair to say that the Godolphin and Coolmore operations seldom have seen eye to eye, with Dettori once calling the Irish syndicate, "the enemy".

Camelot was unplaced in France while, in the end, Godolphin were not repesented.

About the split, Dettori said: "I have had 18 wonderful years at Godolphin. They have been a major part of everything I have achieved in racing and I have loved every minute of it. However, I feel the time has come for a change. My position in the stable has changed and I need a new challenge.

"Sheikh Mohammed has been an unbelievable boss. He had the confidence to take me on board when I was young and we smashed every record together."

That said, anyone thinking the rider was ready to take things slightly easier could not be further from reality, as Dettori believes he could become champion jockey for a fourth tim. His agent, ex-jockey Ray Cochrane, believes he still has plenty to offer and an attempt at winning the title could be on the cards.

Cochrane said yesterday: "We will set our sights on winning most of the big races, if we can, and will have a crack at being champion jockey. It shouldn't be too hard for him. We have discussed it in the past.

"The biggest thing of not being retained by Godolphin is that I can kick on five days in advance and make it my aim for him to ride the best horses.

"Godolphin didn't let me know what he was riding until 48 hours beforehand. He rides for a hell of a lot of trainers in Newmarket and has links all over the world, so he won't go short of work.

"Being a professional sportsman is hard work and he's ridden over 200 winners before."