A CORRESPONDENT got in touch with me via Twitter after last week’s Time Will Tell column, asking me why I was intent on “running down” the Irish Derby: “what point is there?” he asked.

It was certainly not my intention to run down either of the first two, Harzand or Idaho, who I acknowledged had already achieved plenty in finishing first and third in a strongly-run Derby at Epsom. But it is my responsibility to appraise results as objectively as possible from an overall and sectional timing angle.

The point where the Irish Derby was concerned is that the race was not a true test – despite reports to the contrary – and any views on the proximity of outsider Stellar Mass (timefigure of just 73) should be framed accordingly. There is a good chance the colt was flattered, but to precisely what degree is bot easy to tell.

Fast forward one week, and there was a similar scenario at Sandown in the Coral-Eclipse Stakes, in which Hawkbill beat The Gurkha and Time Test, with the last-named’s pacemaker, Countermeasure, surprisingly close in fourth. Without running down the race, it seems pertinent to ask “was it all it seemed?”

First off, the time of the Eclipse, while not out of the top drawer, was not all that bad. It was more than 3.0s quicker than that for the truly-run handicap won by Gibbs Hill at the end of the card, and it compares reasonably with other races at Sandown on Saturday if you allow for the ground probably being incrementally softer the longer the distance covered. Hawkbill gets a 111 timefigure; the same as he had achieved in winning at Royal Ascot and the second-best of the week in Britain and Ireland, if at least 10lb below what he should be capable of in a well-run race. That has The Gurkha also running to 111, Time Test to 110 and Countermeasure to 106.

Manual sectionals show that the pace was steady, but not slow, and that Countermeasure was closest to par of the principals. He was probably flattered, but perhaps not by much.

Unfortunately, the absence of by-furlong sectionals means it is not possible to quantify precisely the degree to which The Gurkha quickened then flattened out. But that is how it appeared, and a return to a mile could well see him going one better. I had already backed him for the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood and am happy with that bet.

Hawkbill deserves all the credit for coming out on top here, though conditions might well have suited him better than his chief rivals. He can be considered a slightly-worse-than-par winner of this historic race, but, you never know, maybe time will tell that undersells him.