Frankie Dettori, one of the most decorated flat jockeys in British racing, will ride Bermuda-owned thoroughbred Johnny Barnes in the Heron Stakes at Sandown Park, Surrey today.

Johnny Barnes has been drawn in stall seven in the listed flat race, which is open to three-year-olds and run over a distance of one mile.

It will be Johnny Barnes’s first race of the season having been held back by his trainer John Gosden because the ground has been unusually firm this season, which does not suit the three-year-old colt, who is 5-1 in places.

In his last outing, Johnny Barnes finished runner-up in his first group one race at the Critérium International at Saint-Cloud, Paris in October.

It is understood that Gosden is keen the get Johnny Barnes’s season up and running and in Dettori he will be ridden by a three-times champion jockey.

Dettori, a household name in England, has ridden the winners of more than 500 group races, with his most celebrated achievement riding all seven winners at Ascot in 1996.

Since the end of 2012, Dettori has been operating as a freelance, having been let go by Godolphin Racing, for whom he was stable jockey and had most of his big victories. In the same year he was suspended from riding for six months after being found guilty of taking a prohibited substance. The 44-year-old won the Heron Stakes riding Lord Florey in 1990.

Horseshoe Bay, who is part of the same Longtail account as Johnny Barnes, will race in the Devil’s Dyke Maiden Stakes over a 1½ miles at Newmarket, Suffolk tomorrow.

He has been drawn in stall six with Ryan Moore, a three-times champion jockey, booked to ride.

The three-year-old colt delivered an encouraging performance in his first race of the season in April at Newmarket, finishing fourth.