Anxious minutes followed a thrilling homestretch battle and a finish too close to call until at long last Britain's Alkaased was named winner of the Japan Cup on Sunday over local runner Heart's Cry, by a nose and in record time.
"My gut feeling was I had won," said jockey Frankie Dettori of his anxious wait for the final decision.
Third favorite Alkaased of Britain (center) gallops en route to winning the Japan Cup in a time of 2 minutes, 22.1 seconds at Tokyo Racecourse.