THE British programme is missing a Group 1 event over seven furlongs. It’s only a matter of time before one of the second-tier events gets upgraded, and the momentum is with the City of York Stakes, which has only recently been upgraded to Group 2 status, but is worth much more than Newbury’s Hungerford Stakes, and is attracting extremely strong fields in terms of numbers and quality.

This year’s running was a thriller, with Andrew Balding’s Shine So Bright refusing to yield to the persistent challenge of the penalised Laurens (Karl Burke/P. J. McDonald) in a stirring tussle, with Cape Byron (Roger Varian/Andrea Atzeni) a respectable two-length third.