Eclipse ignites the fuse for middle-distance showdowns - and it's York where the division should really explode

Ever since we witnessed some truly special performances at Royal Ascot, there’s been a palpable sense of excitement at what might be to come in the rest of the season’s biggest middle-distance events in Europe.

We’re treated to one of those on Saturday in the Coral-Eclipse, and the sight of the Sandown field prompted my colleague Richard Forristal to then project forward to the most valuable middle-distance race of all, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

The Arc has an allure all of its own, but after the Eclipse it’s the next major mile-and-a-quarter event that we should be getting really excited about.