There is something so exciting, so magical about the start of a new racing season and this year is no different with the all-inclusive British calendar having kicked off with the three-day Craven meeting at Newmarket, the sport’s headquarters in the UK.

No sooner has the dust settled on the historic Newmarket racecourse that the action swings to Newbury for the two-day Greenham Meeting, also popularly known as the Dubai Duty Free Spring Trials.

The event also marks the start of the record-breaking airport retailer’s season of horseracing sponsorships which is currently in its 22nd year in the UK.

Both meetings hope to clear the air for the early-season Classics, namely the English 2000 and 1000 Guineas which take place at Newmarket.

So what did we learn following this year’s renewal of the Craven itself, a contest run over the same distance (mile) and track as the Guineas?

One thing is certain though — the offspring of the sporting legend Frankel, the world’s top-rated racehorse who won all 14 of his races before retiring in 2012, are set to make a huge impact on the racing scene.

This point was driven home in no uncertain manner by Eminent, who was a very impressive winner of the Craven, where he upstaged a small but quality field of horses.

A winner of his only start as a juvenile, the Martyn Meade-trained colt showed that, like his sire Frankel, he too possesses a special set of gears, finding more for his jockey Jim Crowley, to win the strong renewal.

Another once-raced colt, the Saeed Bin Surour-trained Benbatl, who briefly threatened under a strong ride by Silvestre De Souse, also caught the eye. But it remains to be seen how well he performs over longer trips, having looked full of beans, if not ability, in what was his second career start.

Rivet, the favourite, perhaps disappointed, although he was only beaten a length and three quarters.

As a Classic trial, the Craven is perhaps not the compelling race that it’s thought to be, not just because it has not produced that many winners of the Guineas or Derby for that matter, but also due to the competition from Classic trials run in Ireland and France and also the strategy of many trainers to run their progressive youngsters straight in the Guineas without the need of a prep race.

Nonetheless it would be unwise to totally disregard a race like the Craven as many horses need to have run before they are put to the ultimate test.

How well Eminent, Rivet and Benbatl will fare in two weeks’ time is anybody’s guess but three-year-olds are generally on the upward curve during this time in their career and hence, the Craven, is a good yardstick to assess how much a horse has come on from juvenile to three-year-old.

A point to consider before jumping the gun is that we’re far from done yet with the trials and the Craven meeting is only the first of many more to come like the DDF trials, which as you read this, will perhaps have added another dimension to the Classic puzzle.