IT is legitimate to compare the quality of a headline race with previous renewals of said race, and today’s King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (resist the temptation to insert Diamond here) Stakes may not be as strong as the pre-race hype suggests it is.

Golden Horn is top notch. That is beyond dispute. The Dante winner, the Derby winner, the Eclipse winner, still unbeaten, an official rating of 130, and Anthony (insert Diamond here if you wish) Oppenheimer’s horse could be even better than he has been able to show to date.