Marvellous memories are made as Enable and Crystal Ocean take us back in time

It may not have been her best performance, and on the figures she will not even be recorded as the best horse, but Enable has yet to bless us with a memory finer than that she created on one of British Flat racing's most unforgettable afternoons.

When two horses fight out a furious finish at Ascot, and most especially when that happens in the track's most important prize, comparisons are made with what took place in 1975 when Grundy and Bustino were responsible for what was christened race of the century. There are some who see it as sacrilege to place anything else on the same pedestal, but to say this day had echoes of that day is not fanciful.

For Crystal Ocean there were further echoes, in his case of last year's King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes. Now, as then, he gave his everything. His everything was not enough. He is a magnificent animal, the epitome of a competitor, and in defeat he lost nothing except first place. His latest misfortune was that the rival eyeballing him throughout the final two furlongs is an athlete who has become addicted to winning.