Racing: Dettori left breathless by 'electric' Falbrav

An odyssey finished here at Sha Tin yesterday, a career also, but the memory of Falbrav's glorious ransacking of the Hong Kong Cup will not come to a close quite so swiftly.

The great horse - and he must be remembered so - went out at the top, collecting his fifth Group One race from 10 forays at the highest level this season. Most memorably, he did so with a piece of screaming acceleration possessed by only the blessed few.

When Luca Cumani referred to Falbrav as the greatest horse on the planet earlier this season, the sentiment smacked of hyperbole. Yesterday, when he repeated the assertion, it just seemed like plain fact. "He's the best horse in the world," the Newmarket trainer said. "Always has been. Always was. All year. He's something else.

"If you saw him beforehand in the parade ring he was like Muhammad Ali getting into the boxing ring. He just knew he was going to win. He knows how good he is."

Falbrav's has been an apparently wearying campaign, but that was not evidenced in the preliminaries. His muscles protruded and gleamed, his tail swished lazily in the late afternoon air. There was, initially, a docile look in his eye, one replaced by something more fiery as soon as Frankie Dettori was on his back.

Michael Jarvis's Rakti was just behind Falbrav in the paddock, which was to prove emblematic for the 10-furlong race itself. It had been tagged as a duel in the sun between the Newmarket horses.

Rakti was the slowest away as Dettori placed Falbrav in the main belly of the field, one off the rail. Philip Robinson's mount was last starting off down the back, but made headway to shadow his principal rival.

At the top of the stretch, Dettori was probably a bit further back than intended, but not back far enough as far as his opponents were concerned. In the home run the British horses detonated simultaneously, but the biggest charge belonged to Falbrav.

The pair disputed an opening made for one and there was a collision which Falbrav, with his weight advantage, was always likely to survive the better. The 7-10 shot then slipped through horses so swiftly and cleanly it seemed his flanks must have been buttered. Rakti replicated the route, but at a respectful distance, two lengths away. "It was an unbelievable moment," Dettori reported. "That was electric.

"I was dying to let him go. Within three strides he had found the gap and gone away. He just flew. He took my breath away. I haven't felt a sensation like that for a long time. I nearly peed myself. He won it like the best horse in the world."

It was the most exciting manoeuvre Cumani had witnessed from his most exciting horse. "I was a little bit worried about how far back he was and, for a minute, I thought we were going to need a bit of racing room, a bit of luck," the trainer said. "But then he just made his own room. The waves parted in front of him. Frankie said that when the turbo kicked in he almost fell out of the back."

Jarvis did not look, or sound, much like a loser afterwards. He had won the sort of amount that usually comes on a large cardboard cheque, a portion of around £300,000 in prizemoney.

The trainer also recognised the force he had been taking on, one which will at least not be on the field of battle when Ratki returns for a five-year-old campaign. "I was thrilled with his run," Jarvis said. "They both went for the same gap, but Frankie just got there that bit quicker."

Falbrav's display at the height of Sha Tin's four international Group One races was as required as it was compelling. In the other races - the Sprint, the Vase and the Mile - Britain's runners were largely abject.

There was a serious deputation in the Vase comprising Warrsan, Imperial Dancer and Indian Creek, but only the first-named made any impact. Clive Brittain's runner stayed on for third, behind the French-trained winner Vallee Enchantee. It was, the Cup apart, the only placing collected by the British.

When it came to gathering bouquets, however, the visitors were well represented by Falbrav, which means "be good", by the horse which lived up to his name.

Now the rampage across the continents is over. Falbrav has captivated audiences in France, England, Ireland and the United States this year but, after winning £816,000 yesterday, he is to start a stud career in Japan.

* Beef Or Salmon confirmed his Cheltenham Gold Cup prospects when winning the Hilly Way Chase at Cork yesterday, for the second year running. Timmy Murphy's mount, running over an inadequate trip of two miles, landed a cosy victory over three rivals. He remained an 8-1 chance with Ladbrokes for the Gold Cup.