THE finish of the Coral-Eclipse turned back the clock to a decade ago, with the royal blue of Godolphin duelling with a Coolmore colt.

The winner, Hawkbill, stepped up on his earlier form. He is the first horse this century to win it not having already performed at Group 1 or Group 2 level.

The second place finish for The Gurkha continued some near misses in the top colts’ classics and Groups 1 for Ballydoyle.

US Army Ranger fell short at Epsom and Idaho could still not get past Harzand at the Curragh

Minding’s Irish 1000 Guineas defeat was a shock, while Found looked set for the Prince of Wales’s Stakes until My Dream Boat snatched it.

However, Newmarket this week on faster ground looked like turning the tide. beginning with Alice Springs

Both The Gurkha and US Army Ranger could have improvement given neither saw a racecourse until April.