Arsenal superfan Frankie Dettori takes another swipe at Man Utd legend live at Sports Personality of the Year

Horse racing legend and Arsenal superfan Frankie Dettori landed another dig at Manchester United and former player Cristiano Ronaldo as he competed for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award on Tuesday night.

The jockey, who ultimately lost out on the prize to England goalkeeper and Lioness Mary Earps, has flirted with retirement in recent years but has continued to race as the wins keep on coming. Dettori won his ninth Royal Ascot Gold Cup this year.

The Italian was not in attendance at the ceremony as he enjoys a holiday in France between a stint on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! and a new venture in American racing. Dettori still dialled in from the continent for an interview after his nomination video was played.

He said: "At the beginning of the season I thought, I'm 52, I want to stop at the top. I watched [Cristiano] Ronaldo two years ago playing the World Cup for Portugal and he was on the bench. He's one of the best players in the world and I didn't want to end up like that.

"I didn't want to stop my career being on the bench. So, I thought well I'll call it quits and when I call it a day things will ease up and I'll walk away into the sunset but the opposite happened.

"I kept on winning, did my farewells in Europe and thought, am I doing the right thing here? I told everyone I was quitting and got myself snookered in the corner. I couldn't carry on in England after the farewells and statue an Ascot but I've still got to get it out of my system. I'm emigrating to the USA, it's the last chance I have to continue what I love."

Dettori is a big Gunners fan, having famously been caught by police with cocaine in his possession when he went to watch Arsenal at the Coca Cola Cup Final in 1993. He has also spoken about his love for Gunners stars and previously said: "The two best players I've seen at Arsenal in my short Arsenal career - Thierry Henry and also a good friend of mine, Ian Wright. They were two smashing strikers and gave me great pleasure watching them.

"My favourite Arsenal player of all time has got to be Tony Adams. He was a great leader and great captain, not just for Arsenal but England as well, and he was one of the best I've ever seen."

It's not the first time that Dettori has mocked Manchester United and Real Madrid legend Ronaldo for the latter stages of his career in recent months. The jockey also used the comparison when talking to BettingSites ahead of final Royal Ascot appearance this year.

He said: “I’d rather go out at the top. Look at Cristiano Ronaldo. In his last few games for Manchester United as a player, before he went to Saudi Arabia, he was probably not as excited or as on top of his game as he was at Man Utd in his glory days, or even his first season returning to Old Trafford. I wouldn’t want to end like that.”