He did something similar when taking the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Rounding the home turn Eagle Top was stone last, six lengths behind the leader as they approached the three-furlong pole. He then swept down the outside to score by three and a quarter lengths despite drifting toward the running rail and bouncing off runner-up Adelaide as he did so.

One reason Eagle Top was able to gain so much ground was that the leaders went off rather too fast for their own good. Top Italian three-year-old Dylan Mouth raced keenly in second, pushing the leader Odeon to go a terrific clip to maintain his lead. They actually covered the first quarter mile 1.3 seconds faster than they managed in any of the other four 12-furlong races run at Royal Ascot.

The time that Eagle Top clocked and the fact he looked to have energy in reserve crossing the line suggests to me he may well be a Group 1 horse. He’s certainly one of the fastest middle-distance three-year-olds we’ve seen this season.

With just three runs to his name and youth on his side it makes sense to adopt a patient policy with Eagle Top but the King George does seem to offer a golden opportunity to him thanks to the over-generous 12lb weight for age allowance and the fact the top three-year-olds nowadays normally skip the race in favour of the Irish Derby or Grand Prix de Paris.

Dylan Mouth (26) pulled hard and chased the over-fast early gallopers before tiring quickly late.

Most likely this race came a bit too soon after Dylan Mouth’s Derby Italiano win. Derby Italiano winners have a rotten record next time out unless they race in Italy or in non-pattern company. The last 36 winners have won seven times out of 12 when they’ve raced in Italy next time or in a foreign unlisted race but they’ve lost all 24 times they’ve run in foreign pattern races next time out.

The Derby Italiano is a tough race and it’s not easy for the winners to hold form well enough to win a foreign group race next time. With his big win just 33 days ago I’m inclined to think Dylan Mouth wasn’t at his best for this.

I didn’t have time to write up Dylan Mouth’s Derby Italiano win where I gave him a rating of 38. It was the first race where he didn’t wander around and run rather green in the closing stages, presumably because in the others he hit the front a lot sooner and had less company. The big field in the Derby enabled him to be covered up for a late run. He came through from about eight lengths back early in the half mile straight to pick up the leaders rather comfortably, only having to be kept up to his work to score by over a length.

Dylan Mouth is a long striding, rangy, muscular, rather classy looking sort who is clearly built for a mile and a half but also to have a bit more acceleration than the average horse at the distance, being pretty athletic in appearance. He’d won five out of five before this loss and is most likely going to be competitive in Group 1 races.

Snow Sky (35) ran a remarkably good race to finish fourth seeing how he pressed the leaders in such a strongly run race. He actually looked to have a big chance when improving from three furlongs out to challenge but understandably tired late.

Snow Sky had beaten subsequent Queen’s Vase winner Hartnell rather comfortably in the Lingfield Derby Trial after finishing a good second to the smart Western Hymn over an inadequate 10 furlongs. He’d missed the Derby with a banged joint but still looks worth a shot at Group 1 company.

I’d be inclined to take up his entry in the King George or Grand Prix de Paris. He may not be quite good enough to win either of those races but should run a lot better than he did here.

Runner-up Adelaide (37) moved well for a long way but simply couldn’t go with the winner. He did take a slight bump from Eagle Top who also went across him but was beaten purely on merit.

This run proves that Adelaide gets the mile and a half but it also suggests he’s not going to be a Group 1 horse.

I really should have written up the last run of Miner’s Lamp as he earned a pattern class rating when winning a red hot handicap at Newmarket over 12 furlongs.

The King Edward VII Stakes has produced eight of the last 18 St Leger winners. If there was a St Leger winner in this year’s line-up then it was surely Miner’s Lamp (32).

Miner’s Lamp earned a rating of 37 from me when winning a good handicap at Newmarket. He’s a big, galumphing sort of beast with oodles of stamina and not much acceleration.

Here things seemed to happen too quickly for Miner’s Lamp in a fiercely run race on fast ground. He got stretched by the strong gallop early and then found traffic problems later on.

When he won at Newmarket Miner’s Lamp made the running and just kept on rolling up the 10-furlong home straight. The pattern class filly Talmada took a long run at him for about three furlongs but couldn’t cut his lead. Then the runner-up came and had a go. He closed the gap to half a length but Miner’s Lamp never flagged all the way to the line.

On his previous start Miner’s Lamp was dropped out last in a 10-furlong race where the early pace was moderate. He was then asked to gain ground into an accelerating pace (23.19 seconds for the quarter mile before the final furlong). He kept on strongly but couldn’t quite get there. He finished second by three-quarters of a length. The short trip, slow pace and sprint finish beat him. He’s won the other three times he’s run beyond sprint distances.

Trainer Charlie Appleby has already said he thinks Miner’s Lamp will be suited by a mile and three quarters. No doubt he’ll be going for the St Leger if things work out.