WHENEVER Lanfranco Dettori comes to town, Hong Kong racing fans get excited. And Europe's most prominent rider is back again this week, to ride in the International Jockeys' Championship Races Wednesday evening, December 12, at Happy Valley, and in the Hong Kong International Races on Sunday, December 16, at Sha Tin Racecourse.

Hong Kong loves Dettori, and the feeling is mutual. In 1999, Dettori won the International Jockeys¡¦ Championship, defeating Kieren Fallon and Olivier Peslier in a down-to-the-wire finish. And in 2000, Dettori guided Fantastic Light to a 1 1/4-length victory in the Hong Kong Cup (G1).

The HK Cup triumph was Dettori's second in a Hong Kong International Race. He had previously won the 1996 edition of the Hong Kong Vase with Luso.

Dettori also finished second in the 1993 Hong Kong Bowl (now the Group 1 Hong Kong Mile) with Marina Park, third in the 1994 HK Bowl with Heart Lake, second in the 1995 HK Vase with Needle Gun and third in the 1999 'Vase (then a Group 2 race) with Sea Wave.

With 22 overall mounts, two victories, two second-place finishes and two third-place finishes, Dettori has been the most active jockey, European-based or otherwise, in HK International Races history.

And "Frankie," as his fans call him, will have a trio of mounts this Sunday, as he rides Tobougg in the HK$18-million HK Cup, China Visit in the HK$14-million HK Mile and Ekraar in the HK$14-million HK Vase (now also a Group 1 event).

All three horses are owned by the Maktoum family of Dubai, and trained by Saeed bin Suroor, the same team that campaigned Fantastic Light, and Daylami as well. Both horses were ridden by Dettori, and both were winners of the Emirates World Series Racing Championship, of which the HK Cup is the culminating event.

On October 27 of this year, Dettori guided Fantastic Light to a three-quarter-length victory in the Breeders' Cup Turf (G1) at New York's Belmont Park. It was Fantastic Light's final career start, and resulted in the third triumph in a Breeders' Cup event for Dettori, who also won the BC Mile (G1) with Barathea in 1994 and the BC Turf with Daylami in 1999.

Born in Italy, Dettori is the son of Gianfranco Dettori, who was the leading jockey in his home country for 13 seasons. In 1985, Frankie went to work as a stablehand for Luca Cumani at Newmarket. Dettori was only 14 at the time, and it was at Cumani's barn where he gained his nickname.

By 1987, Dettori was riding in races - - he registered his first win on June 9 of that year aboard a horse named Lizzie Hare at Goodwood. By 1989, Dettori was England's leading apprentice, and the following year he became the first teenager since Lester Piggott to ride 100 winners in a single British racing season.

Dettori, who turns 31 years of age on December 15, the day before the HK International Races, has since compiled so many extraordinary accomplishments that they're impossible to fully list. He has won the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1), the Japan Cup (G1) and numerous other Group 1 and Grade 1 events in England, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, the United States and elsewhere.

His characteristic display of victory, which involves joyously leaping high off a horse in the winner's circle, has made Dettori the focal point of thousands of photographs. Certainly one of Dettori's greatest achievements took place on September 28, 1996, when he swept the entire programme at the Festival of British Racing at Ascot. People got to see the "Dettori Leap" seven times that day.

Now, Dettori is back in Hong Kong, seeking to leap some more. Hong Kong fans have been awaiting his return. Though Italian by lineage, and England-based, Frankie is as welcome as a close family member in this part of the world.