The best horse in Europe and possibly the world, is trained by a Sussex man.

Rakti confirmed his reputation for Lewes-born Michael Jarvis with a devastating performance to win Royal Ascot's most valuable race, the £203,000 Prince of Wales Stakes, on Wednesday.

But Jarvis said he was stunned by the colt's display.

He said: "I would have been satisfied with a good run even if he hadn't won.

"To be honest, I was surprised to see him beat that top-class field by a comfortable two lengths."

Jarvis went into the race concerned that the horse had not trained as consistently as last year.

He said: "He is a five-year-old now and has seen it and done it all. He knows what the form is and probably doesn't see the need to exert himself more than necessary. It is not that he is ungenuine, it is that he is just older and wiser.

"I was relieved to get the first race of the season behind us."

Rakti had not run since his two-length defeat in the Hong Kong Cup by the now-retired Falbrav last December.

But the colt had already shown he can win coming off a long break. He was out for four months after suffering an injury at Ascot last year but came out to win the Champion Stakes at Newmarket.

Rakti lived up to his reputation as a 'bully boy' in the preliminaries to the Prince of Wales Stakes. He dragged his lad Bob McGonagle round the parade ring with impatient and imperious swings of his head.

The colt had given problems going into the stalls in the past. But Steve Dyble, who has the job of getting horses in line, was on hand to make sure he moved smoothly in.

Lying second throughout the first mile, jockey Philip Robinson seemed to have difficulty restraining his mount, who refused to settle.

But the issue was never in doubt once the straight was reached and Robinson gave Rakti his head.

Jarvis, who has won the Arc with Carroll House, said: "He is certainly the best mile-and-a-quarter horse I have trained."

As revealed in Turf Talk three weeks ago, the Hong Kong Cup in December is the ultimate target In the meantime, there are prizes including a £1m bonus, to be collected on the way to the Far East.

Rakti will almost certainly be kept to ten furlongs and that means he will run the Coral Eclipse at Sandown in July and the Juddmonte International at York in August. Should he win them he would earn the British Horseracing Board bonus which is up for grabs for the first time this year.

But Jarvis, who has never disguised his love for the Sussex Downs where he spent his early life and started his career in racing, could be tempted to enter his stable star for the Sussex Stakes over one mile at Goodwood at the end of July.

Jarvis, who trains at Newmarket, said: "Philip insists that the horse has so much speed that he would win at a mile, so we'll have to see.

Rakti's owner is Japanese multi-millionaire Gary Tanaka and there is no way the Godolphin team will get their hands on the horse as they did with Sulamani 18 months ago.

Incidentally, I would be unsurprised if Sulamani was retired.

He carried no condition and did not look well on Wednesday. It was his first race since last autumn and he did well to finish a four-length fourth in the Prince of Wales Stakes. But it was nowhere near the Sulamani of two years ago.

Jarvis, whose 22 per cent strike rate this year puts his small stable into the top half dozen in the country, went on to win the last race of the day with the filly Celtic Heroine.

It was the veteran trainer's first Royal Ascot double in 31 years.

The 66-year-old keeps a much lower profile than the likes of Sir Michael Stoute and Henry Cecil, but his expertise is the equal of any.

Rakti, who was trained in Italy as a two and three-year-old, came to Jarvis after refusing to enter the starting stalls for Newmarket's Champion Stakes 20 months ago.

Jarvis said: "His Italian jockey lost his temper and knocked him about. That put the horse off altogether and had a lasting effect.

"It's entirely down to Yarmi (the nickname for Dyble) that Rakti seems to have got his head round his starting stall problems these days and the owner contracted Yarmi for the rest of Rakti's racing career.

"The horse knows his voice and reacts to it and where Rakti goes, Yarmi goes with him. You've seen the result."

Jarvis is quick to emphasis the value of his team.

He said: "My head man, Jimmy Thompson, came to me straight from school 30 years ago. He's never worked for anyone else and I hope he never does."

Assistant trainer Roger Varian, 25, was based at Findon with Josh Gifford as a conditional jump jockey, but found it difficult getting rides and wisely moved on.

Jarvis said: "Roger is very conscientious and excellent at man-management. The lads like and respect him and he gets on well with the owners as well."