WE will have to wait a while longer for a true ‘Clash of The Generations’, unless you regard the likes of Cliffs Of Moher and Hawkbill as standard bearers for their age groups, but last Saturday’s Coral-Eclipse Stakes at Sandown did help to clarify the pecking order among the classic crop as well as provide a thrilling spectacle in its own right.

The Dante winner and Derby third Roaring Lion got the better of the 2000 Guineas winner and Derby fourth Saxon Warrior by just a neck, and had to survive a stewards’ enquiry, having hung into his rival late on, but can be regarded as the best horse in the race by a somewhat clearer margin.

The overall timefigure achieved by both colts was a respectable 115, but sectional analysis points to significant upgrades for them, and for third-placed Cliffs Of Moher, in what was a steadily-run race until the home straight.

The “race” sectional for the leader at three furlongs out and the leader (i.e. the winner, Roaring Lion) at the line was 36.8s, or a finishing speed of 101.6% of the average race speed.

But Roaring Lion, and to a somewhat lesser extent Saxon Warrior, came from further back at that point and both did well. In particular, their times between three furlongs out and a furlong out were notably fast, but their final furlongs less so.

UPGRADE

Sectional upgrading, which comes from the difference between the individual horses’ finishing speed percentages and par for the course and distance, point to Roaring Lion being worth a sectional figure of 123 (8lb upgrade) and Saxon Warrior 120 (5lb upgrade). Cliffs Of Moher gets raised from 111 to 116.

That is what I will be rating them, and hereafter in this space I will make it clear when a sectionally-adjusted rating is preferred to one based solely on overall time. Sectionals are not always available, of course, but that is a topic for discussion another day.

So, Roaring Lion did well to come from a few lengths back, having also raced rather wide before then: I have his last three furlong sections at 11.70s, 11.80s and finally 12.78s.

When viewed in conjunction with his effort in the Dante, in which his late sectionals were sensationally fast, he does appear a horse for whom a speed-favouring 10 furlongs may be absolutely ideal.

I have never entirely bought into the Saxon Warrior veneration, but he is a classy individual who has faced up to each challenge, and this effort was at least on a par with his 2000 Guineas win in my view.

A return to eight furlongs has been mooted for him but I would be surprised if he were significantly better at that trip than this one.

Behind them, Cliffs Of Moher ran as well as could be expected, while Happily (105 sectional rating) was not far below her best: it was a bigger step up from defeat in fillies’ classics to this race than the market seemed to appreciate.