ARCADIA, Calif. - Three winners, accompanied by three flying dismounts in the winner’s circle, gave legendary jockey Frankie Dettori an ideal start to his final season of riding at Santa Anita on Monday. On a blockbuster 11-race program, Dettori needed three victories to gain a place among the three human stars on a day with six stakes. Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert won five races, all on dirt, while jockey Juan Hernandez led all riders with four wins. Dettori, 52, stole the show. Arguably the most recognizable rider in the world, Dettori announced last month that he plans to retire in the fall of 2023, finishing a career that includes three riding titles in Britain, 14 Breeders’ Cup wins, and six wins in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, to name just a few milestones. Yet, Dettori said he rose at 5 a.m. on Monday, courtesy of recent jet lag, and had anxious moments in the hours before racing. “I woke up and was a bit emotional, a bit sad, but also happy,” he said. “This is the start of my finale, today. “This is it. I tried to enjoy it.” :: Get ready for Santa Anita racing with DRF Past Performances, Picks, and Clocker Reports.  Dettori said his nerves settled once racing began. After finishing ninth on Secret Treasure with his first mount of the day in the fifth race, Dettori won with his next three rides – the Baffert-trained Country Grammer in the Grade 2 San Antonio Stakes, La Deuxieme Etoile in the seventh race, and Ballet Dancing in the ninth race. Dettori said each win had a unique meaning. Dettori rode Country Grammer to a win in the $12 million Dubai World Cup in the United Arab Emirates last March, the fourth time he has won that race. Country Grammer was second in three important graded stakes from late July to early October before reuniting with Dettori for the San Antonio Stakes. “I had the pleasure of riding one of the best older horses in training on the first day,” Dettori said after Monday’s program. “I thought, 'Let’s hope it goes well,' and it did.” Country Grammer is scheduled to make his next start in the $20 million Saudi Cup in Saudi Arabia on Feb. 25. Country Grammer was second in the race last year. La Deuxieme Etoile is owned by Paul and Zillah Reddam. Dettori won the 2004 BC Juvenile at Lone Star Park aboard Wilko, and 2006 BC Turf at Churchill Downs aboard Red Rocks for the Reddams. “Paul Reddam has been one of my best supporters,” Dettori said. “I owe a lot to him to have the balls to put me up back in the day when there were a million great riders in America.” Ballet Dancing is trained by Simon Callaghan, with whom Dettori is staying this winter in California. “That was as important as Country Grammer,” Dettori said. Dettori has ridden nearly every major racing program in the world. He thrilled an announced crowd of 41,446 on Monday by celebrating his wins with flying dismounts. After racing, he generously signed autographs and gave away riding goggles while walking back to the jockeys’ room, as Santa Anita jockeys often do. :: Get Santa Anita Clocker Reports straight from the morning workouts at the track. Available every race day.  “What a reception I got,” he said. “I couldn’t imagine a better start.” Baffert swept the two Grade 1 races for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs – the Malibu with championship aspirant Taiba, who was ridden by 57-year-old Mike Smith and the La Brea Stakes with the 30-year-old Hernandez aboard Fun to Dream. Aside from Country Grammer, Baffert won maiden races with the 3-year-old Bletchley Park, who was ridden by Hernandez, and the promising juvenile first-time starter Faustin, ridden by Ramon Vazquez. Taiba won his third Grade 1 race of 2022 to solidify his chances for outstanding 3-year-old male of 2022. Faustin, a Curlin colt purchased for $800,000 at a 2-year-olds in-training sale last April, races for Michael Petersen. In Monday’s fourth race, Faustin ($3.80) closed from fifth in a field of eight to win a six-furlong maiden race by 2 3/4 lengths in 1:10.08. Faustin earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 89, and joins a lengthy list of promising 3-year-olds Baffert has for next year. “I didn’t think he would win first time out,” Baffert said. “He’s starting to wake up. The good ones come through.” With five wins on Monday, Baffert, 69, was close to his career-best day when his stable won a combined six races at Aqueduct and Santa Anita on April 8, 2006, including the Grade 1 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct with Bob and John. Monday’s program was Baffert’s first five-win day since Dec. 7, 2019 at Los Alamitos, a day he won the Grade 1 Starlet Stakes with Bast and the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity with Thousand Words. Baffert recalled on Tuesday that he won five Quarter Horse trials early in his career at Prescott Downs in Arizona. Hernandez will be in a tussle for the position of leading rider this winter, with the likes of Flavien Prat, who won the title at the Del Mar autumn meeting and is expected to ride here until late March, and Ramon Vazquez, who won the title at the Santa Anita autumn meeting and the three brief meetings at Los Alamitos in 2022. Hernandez led all riders with three stakes wins Monday, including the Grade 2 San Gabriel Stakes on Dicey Mo Chara and the Grade 1 American Oaks on Rhea Moon in the day’s final race. Hernandez won the riding title at the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting that ended in June, and the prestigious Del Mar summer meeting. :: DRF Bets players have exclusive access to FREE DRF Past Performances - Classic or Formulator! Join today.  “I never think, to be honest, of the standings,” he said after Monday’s program. “I want to focus on my rides and win big races. I’ll keep working and keep doing my best in every race.” Prat rode six winners at Santa Anita on Jan. 1, and Del Mar on Dec. 4, the best single days for a rider in Southern California this year. Vazquez had a four-win day at Los Alamitos on Dec. 17. For Hernandez, Monday’s four-win program was his first time with that many wins on a day since the Del Mar summer meeting, when he achieved the milestone three times. Dettori can top them all. He swept a seven-race program at Ascot Racecourse in England on Sept. 28, 1996. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.