Owns the fastest raw best time in the race at 28.90 and has the deepest course experience — ten runs, a win and two placings — with form in A0 company on the book. The catch is a six-week absence since early June; fresh dogs can fire or flop, and at A1 level there is no margin for a slow start. If the layoff has him cherry-ripe he is dangerous, and he is drawn well enough to show it.

Ran an 88 three starts back, which would put him right in this, and Declan McDonagh's 33% kennel figure is the best in the race. But he was well beaten in top company last time out, has no reliable recent clockings to measure him by, and no wins in two tries at the course and distance. Talented but hard to trust on what is visible.

The 99-rated performance four runs back shows exactly what he can do, and his 28.91 best time is a whisker off the fastest in the race. Since then, though, the ratings have sagged and he was well held in a hot contest last week. Trap 4 wins barely one in nine at this grade, which makes his task harder still. Needs to recapture the spring form, and quickly.

Just two runs on the record, most recently a fair fourth in A1 company over 550 metres, and his debut rating of 78 suggests genuine ability. But there are no reliable times on his card at this trip, trap 6 is the worst box at this grade at barely one in ten, and unexposed dogs from the widest draw need luck at the first bend. More to find on the evidence available.