PROS

• A straight match-up between four of the best milers around for what is traditionally the best mile event in Europe, run on perfect ground at a true gallop which saw all runners have a fair chance turning into the straight.

CONS

• With three of the four runners being 3-year-olds this race didn’t really offer a great comparison between generations, although Rip Van Winkle had already demonstrated his superiority over older horses in the Sussex Stakes.

BOTTOM LINE

• Rip Van Winkle confirmed that (Sea The Stars excepted) he’s just about the best miler around in the UK and Ireland with a convincing performance. Racing close to the pace, he moved up to take the lead with a quarter mile to run and though threatened by Zacinto and Delegator for much of the last quarter mile never looked like being passed. The winner heads to the Classic with credentials every bit as solid as Raven’s Pass did a year ago, whilst the second (who is improving all the time) and third will surely have solid chances in the Mile.