Dettori ready to write off the championship

Frankie Dettori and Kieren Fallon made a victorious return to the domestic racing scene at Windsor yesterday when, fresh from their triumphs in Dubai, they scored on their first rides of the new turf Flat season. Dettori had the easiest of victories on Verbose in the maiden fillies' stakes, while Fallon was at his strongest on Sign Of Hope in the mile handicap.

Fallon, the reigning champion, is confident of retaining his crown, while Dettori explained why regaining it is a daunting task. "I think another championship is very unlikely for me, although you can be assured I'll be trying my best," Dettori, twice the champion, said. "I've lost the good rides from David Loder and now that John Gosden has moved to Manton I shan't get the same amount I used to do from him. I imagine Jimmy Fortune will ride the Sangster horses and more.

"To win the title you need a stable of at least 200 behind you like Henry Cecil or Michael Stoute and, while at Godolphin we have super quality right the way down the line, we don't have the same amount of ammunition numerically."

Dettori stressed that he is as determined as ever: "I'm going to Newcastle tomorrow and will be travelling the length of the country as I'm keen to kick some winners in and get to a century as quickly as possible."

Fallon, whose Nad Al Sheba triumph on Sir Michael Stoute's Fantastic Light was surpassed only by Dettori's triumph on Dubai Millennium, said that he regarded Fortune as the main threat to his title.

"My big aims are the title and the Classics," Fallon said. "I just hope we have a nice clean season and that I don't make too many mistakes.

"I've always said that, if he got the breaks, Jimmy Fortune would be the man to push me hardest. That said, Kevin Darley has made a great start in the North and Frankie is always going to be there."

Mick Channon left Windsor an unhappy man after picking up a £1,500 fine under the "non-triers" rule over the running and riding of Spirit Of Light. The gelding finished seventh of 17 runners in the Burford Handicap and the stewards took the view that Michael Tebbutt did not make sufficient effort on the horse. They suspended him for 10 days, while Spirit Of Light has been suspended from running for 40 days from 30 March.

Stewards' secretary, Terence Brennan, said: "We found that Tebbutt didn't make sufficient effort on the horse. He has taken the videotape of the race away with him and I imagine he will want to look carefully at that before contemplating an appeal."