Guineas, Derby and now the Eclipse – did the best horse win?

Say what you like about the merits of three-year-olds but they have certainly played their part in shaping the season to date. To judge from Barney Roy’s barnstorming finish in Saturday’s Coral-Eclipse, they will continue to do so right through to Champions Day in October.

An unusual feature this year is the higher proportion of big races leaving the impression that there would be a different outcome were the same protagonists to meet further down the line.

At the time it seemed Churchill would dominate the milers after his 2,000 Guineas triumph. However, further analysis of the Newmarket Classic showed how everything had gone his way and very little the way of his opponents – notably Barney Roy, who stumbled badly in the Dip. Barney Roy duly took his revenge at Royal Ascot to leave Churchill’s claim on supremacy open to conjecture.