Paddington's win bodes well for the Classic generation - but the real tests are still to come

What of this year’s Classic generation? It is a topic that looms large now the three-year-olds are obliged to confront their elders throughout the summer. And what a summer it promises to be. 

A frantic sequence of races has distilled the sophomore crop down to two totemic horses; perhaps three if you are in King Of Steel’s camp. And after Paddington’s Eclipse win, the question now is whether they can continue to scatter their stardust beyond the confines of their own parish.

Any such discussion still has to start with Auguste Rodin, whose lustre dimmed a little after his workmanlike victory in the Irish Derby. He was very much in vogue after his Epsom triumph, yet a new pretender has emerged in Paddington, whose Eclipse victory struck the second blow for three-year-olds in all-aged Group 1 competition this year.