Why no Eclipse pacemaker for Ombudsman? Such a strong stayer deserves to have a stablemate out in front

Many a pacemaker has lined up in the Coral-Eclipse before now, so it was surprising to realise on Saturday that no-one had thought to bring one along. Like a picnic without a corkscrew, there was a risk of the whole occasion being deflated by such an oversight.

In the end, we saw a race described as "messy" by connections of the runner-up, which made me think again that a pacemaker might have helped. It is not always a solution and there has been many a messy race in which a pacemaker took part, but it gives you a better chance of influencing the way things pan out and, if the worst comes to the worst, at least you can say you tried everything.

It is a tricky job that can not be done by just any old horse, but a mighty empire like Godolphin could surely have found the right type somewhere, or else paid to get one. Just as some high-flying Flat jockeys like to pay a driver to ensure a stress-free passage to the races, so a strong-staying athlete of Ombudsman's class deserves to have a stablemate setting a strong, even gallop.