Falbrav wins the plaudits

A durable long player beat a flashy one-hit wonder hands down today when Falbrav eclipsed Hawk Wing to win British racing's first ever Horse of the Year award.

Few would deny the right decision was reached as Luca Cumani's globe-trotting star was lauded at the British Horseracing Board Awards ceremony at the Savoy.

But Hawk Wing will enter the history books as the best horse to race in Europe during 2003 after official handicappers allotted him a rating of 133 as opposed to Falbrav's 127.

Falbrav gripped the imagination of the racing public by competing in 10 consecutive Group 1 contests and winning five, while Hawk Wing recorded an outstanding performance to win Newbury's Lockinge Stakes only to be retired to stud after getting injured at Royal Ascot in June.

The BHB's senior handicapper Nigel Gray described Falbrav as "a horse whose resilience and consistency at the highest level was impossible to fault.

"He was top class between a mile and a mile and a half across three continents and his contribution to raising the profile of British racing was immense."