Is Henrythenavigator the best miler since Sebastian Coe?

Great miler: Henrythenavigator and jockey Johnny Murtagh

But does Henrythenavigator’s name truly deserve to be mentioned alongside racing’s miling greats such as Brigadier Gerard, El Gran Senor, Kris and The Rock, whose unbeaten three-year-old run only came to an end under a less than memorable Mick Kinane ride in the Breeders’ Cup in America?

Smashing the course record at the royal meeting, Henry hinted at greatness and the commendations he received from O’Brien and jockey Johnny Murtagh may have failed the objectivity test but gushed with respect.

‘I find it hard to say we’ll ever find a better miler than him and he’s still progressing. He’s a unique horse. He has speed, he settles, he quickens, and he’s tough,’ said O’Brien, with a careful choice of words that heaped praise on his current champion without devaluing the status of his past heroes, who now fuel the machine as stallions for his Coolmore Stud backers.

It was some critique from a trainer whose previous miling monarchs included Excellent Art and George Washington. But, for all the Royal Ascot glitz, Henrythenavigator must prove to the official handicappers, the statisticians who compile racing’s weights and measure figures, just what he can do on the open stage.

The Coe reputation was forged over seasons of recordbreaking runs. And, when it really mattered, he responded by uniquely landing back-to-back Olympic 1500m gold medals in 1980 (Moscow) and 1984 (Los Angeles).

Henry, a member of O’Brien’s strongest ever team, must now excel on racing’s biggest stages against all-comers.

Dominic Gardiner-Hill, the British Racing Authority handicapper, said: ‘The real test for the three-year-old milers is that series of races throughout the summer — the Sussex Stakes, the Prix du Moulin, the Prix Jacques le Marois and the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes. That’s when the figures are really finalised, when you get generation against generation.’

The Rock took in two of those races — the Sussex and Moulin — and O’Brien seems likely to follow a similar path, especially with a colt whose dislike of soft ground hindered his progress last year and could restrict plans for the autumn.

Henry is still officially rated 4lb inferior to The Rock — the equivalent of two lengths — and the fear for Gardiner-Hill is, unlike Coe who had the likes of Steve Ovett, Steve Cram and John Walker to be measured against, the 2008 champion, in a similar way to his great predecessor, may lack the fierce competition really to define his greatness.

Gardiner-Hill explained: ‘Rock Of Gibraltar was one of those horses who suffered in terms of his rating from the lack of competition. There was nothing really to push him to a higher rating.

‘Henry’s got to win the Sussex pretty impressively by three or four lengths, although obviously it depends on what turns up and, to be brutally truthful, the real top-class milers might be a bit thin on the ground, with Haradasun having retired, Creachadoir being injured and now Ramonti being ruled out of the Goodwood race.

‘You just wonder whether the three-year-olds may present him with a bigger obstacle than the older horses.

‘What you’d like to have seen is Ramonti turning up and running to his form — that would have been a test for Henry.’

It is what the racing public would have also relished.

Tale of the tape

Hooray Henry

Henrythenavigator

TRAINED BY: Aidan O’Brien.

STYLE: Perfectly balanced galloper with gears.

LETHAL WEAPON: A turn of foot to break the most resolute of hearts.

ACHILLES HEEL: Soft ground. It turns the Ferrari into a Ford Mondeo.

RECORD: Won five of his seven races and never out of first three.

FASTEST MILE TIME: 1min 38.70 sec in last month’s St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot.

BIG RIVALS: Derby winner New Approach, who eclipsed him on soft ground last year, but has been beaten twice this season, while Raven’s Pass is getting sick of seeing his tail.

CAREER HIGHLIGHT: Nailing New Approach on the line and ending his unbeaten run in the 2,000 Guineas at
Newmarket in May.

Sebastian Coe

Superstar Seb

TRAINED BY: Peter Coe, his father.

STYLE: Poetry in motion. A light-bodied colt with the perfect action.

LETHAL WEAPON: From the front, or kicking at the 200m mark, few had the engine to live with him.

ACHILLES HEEL: The occasional tactical blip. Remember the 800m in Moscow?

RECORD: Multiple world-record holder who won four Olympic medals, two of them gold.

FASTEST MILE TIME: 3min 47.33sec when he beat Mike Boit in the 1981 Golden Mile in Brussels.

BIG RIVALS: If you loved Seb, you probably hated laid-back arch-rival Steve Ovett. But Steve Cram, John Walker and Boit all graced a golden era of miling.

CAREER HIGHLIGHT: Recovering from glandular fever to win that second Olympic gold in Los Angeles.