And 11 became six.
But even with the reduced number the first £1million Coral-Eclipse offers up a fascinating clash of the generations.
Ombudsman is our poster boy. He arrived on the big stage in style at Royal Ascot last month, producing a rapier-like turn of foot to cut down Anmaat and win a Prince Of Wales’s Stakes run at a searching gallop.
It broke those who sat close to it and served the Group One up on a platter to those who either didn't or couldn't.
But still you watch that change of gear, the way he overhauled a Champion Stakes winner who had got first run, and even on the sixth or seventh viewing you think ‘wow’.
Now he faces a fresh challenge. Because unless someone is going to go for gold from the moment the stalls open and rip up the anticipated script, this is going to be a whole different ball game.
