Why the search for Flat champions is fairer than it is over the jumps

It would take a Group 1-winning, 138-rated, beat-all-comers curmudgeon to find fault with last Saturday's Champions Day . . . wait for it . . . no. It was a superlative occasion, one of the best days of racing in the world. Ah; there's a toehold.

Just about the only things missing at Ascot were Enable and Ulysses, the hitherto two top-rated horses in Europe. One had business at Del Mar, the other had taken care of business at Chantilly. Two champions weren't there on Champions Day, which might be taken to defeat the point.

Indeed, if you were to ask whether the five big-race winners were deserving of the label 'champion', the answer would come probably, no, no, no, yes. Cracksman is a proper crack, Order Of St George is almost at that level, while Persuasive, Hydrangea and Librisa Breeze are very good horses. Two champions, at most, were crowned at Ascot – so does the Champions Day label ring hollow?