Dettori faces stiff fight from Hamilton

Ascot: Frankie Dettori faces stiff competition from Formula One sensation Lewis Hamilton in his bid to become the first jockey to win the prestigious BBC Sports Personality Award this year.

Dettori started the year as the favourite, but has since been replaced by Hamilton following the driver's stunning back-to-back successes in the Canadian and United States Grand Prix.

Most English bookmakers are offering odds of no less that 1/5 on Hamilton winning the honour which will be announced on Sunday, December 9.

Hamilton currently leads the drivers' championship is bidding to become the first Formula One racing driver since Damon Hill in 1996 to pick up the award.

The 22-year-old is the youngest driver to lead the world championship, the first driver to finish on the podium in his first three Grands Prix, a record he has now extended to seven races, and the first rookie to win consecutive poles and races.

He is now set to return to Britain for the British Grand Prix on July 8.

Dettori is in red-hot form, having added yet another Group 1 success to his kitty for the season when triumphant in the Queen Annes Stakes at Royal Ascot on Tuesday.

Earlier this month, he won three Classics in eight days when landing the English and French Derbies and the Prix de Diane Hermes (French Oaks).

"With Andy Murray not certain to take part at Wimbledon, David Beckham off to the relative obscurity of the MLS, and the British golfers falling short once again in a major, even if Lewis was to retire now, we'd still fancy him," said a spokesman for bookmakers Coral.

Hamilton and Dettori's closest are Beckham (9/1), Andy Murray (10/1) and Monty Panesar and Joe Calzaghe (14/1).

The BBC Sports Personality Award recognises and rewards outstanding contribution by individuals to local level grassroots sport.

LATEST ODDS

1/5 Lewis Hamilton, 6/1 Frankie Dettori, 16/1 David Beckham, 20/1 Andy Murray, 40/1 Joe Calzaghe, Johnny Wilkinson, Kevin Pietersen, Paula Radcliffe, Ricky Hatton, 50/1 Amir Khan, John Terry, Justin Rose, Monty Panesar.