This year’s race certainly was as I awarded the winner Eagle Top (37) a pattern-class rating for his performance.

Dropped out second last early on, Eagle Top passed the five-furlong pole 2.26 seconds behind the leader. His jockey initially tried to angle him to the outside of the field for his run but got bumped back. As a result he was still 1.73 seconds off the leader with two and a half furlongs left.