Mike Brunker Horse racing editor • Profile • E-mail

ELMONT, N.Y. - It was no Arcangues, but French trainer Andre Fabre added to his reputation as one of the sharpest trainers in the world by dispatching the German-bred Shirocco to a two-length victory over Ace in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Turf on Saturday, the first victory of the year for the 4-year-old bay colt.

The colt became the first German horse to win a Breeders’ Cup race.

Fabre and jockey Christophe Soumillon, another first-time winner on a day that saw four of them, employed a canny strategy to capture the $2 million Turf, staking out a forward position in the pack despite the presence of a “rabbit” — a horse entered just to ensure a fast early pace.

“He’s a horse that has a lot of stamina, so he needs to be ridden like that, close to the pace,” said the 60-year-old Fabre, who was winning his fourth Breeders’ Cup race from 37 starters.

Slide show   The Breeders' Cup See images from the 2005 World Thoroughbreds Championships at Belmont Park.

When the “rabbit” — Shake the Bank — tired at the top of the stretch, Shirocco thundered past and never looked back.

“When I got to the turn, I just wanted to let him go and not try to pull him back to mix up his action,” said Soumillon, winning his first Breeders’ Cup race in just his third start. “We got two (lengths) in front and when he saw the wire, he just flew home.”

Fabre is best known in this country for his work with 1993 Classic winner Arcanques, the only European horse ever to capture the premier U.S. race and the longest-priced winner in its history, as those who collected the $133.60 surely remember.

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Shirocco was a comparative piker in the payoff department, returning just $19.60.

Refreshingly, Fabre indicated that the owner, Baron Georg Von Ullman, will race the winner as a 5-year-old.

“He will stay in training,” the trainer said. “. . . Probably we will stay in Europe and America.”

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