Frankie Dettori briefly lit up a gloomy Royal Ascot with an inspirational Gold Cup victory on Kayf Tara yesterday but as the Italian celebrated, the gallant Irish mare French Ballerina was losing her struggle for life after breaking a leg at the start of the race. French Ballerina broke her near-hind stifle coming out of the stalls and was almost immediately pulled up by Seamus Heffernan.

It looked bad for the Pat Flynn-trained mare but hope still remained as she was brought back to the racecourse stables by horse ambulance. Sadly though, French Ballerina started to haemorrhage and had to be put down. She had established herself as a high-class flat stayer before brilliantly winning last March's Supreme Novices Hurdle at Cheltenham.

A subsequent runner-up position to His Song in the mud at Punchestown showed she had courage as well as talent, all of which made her death in such an almost mundane way so hard to take.

"It's awful," said Flynn who described French Ballerina as his "flagbearer, and the best mare I've ever trained." He added: "When she was brought back she just started haemorrhaging and had to be humanely destroyed. She was in the best form of her life and I thought she would nearly win today. It's so sad for my staff and I'm sorry for her owners as she would have been a lovely mare to breed from. We'll just have to punch our way back."