WE get the first definitive steer on the relative merits of the new three-year-old middle-distance crop when they run the Eclipse. Three three-year-olds lined up in last Saturday’s Coral-sponsored event, and two of them finished first and second, almost two lengths clear of the third horse, the first older horse home, Time Test.

History tells us that it is not easy for a three-year-old to win the Eclipse. In the decade that preceded Hawkbill’s victory on Saturday, just two three-year-olds had won it: Golden Horn and Sea The Stars. The former had won the Derby, and went on to win the Irish Champion Stakes and the Arc, while the latter was just a superstar who won everything.