The sharpest away in the field and handles the first bend as well as anything here — he'll almost certainly lead them into the turn from the rail. Placed in seven of his ten course and distance runs, including second last time out, so he's knocking on the door. The worry is that he shows brilliant early pace but can weaken in the closing stages, and at 500 metres there's plenty of time to be caught. Established at this grade with form figures rarely dipping below the low 70s.

Dropping in from A1, the top grade, where his recent runs have been modest — but his peaks at that level (95 and 92 within his last six) are far beyond anything else in this field, and he owns four wins from nine at this course and distance. He also won a scorching 30.09 trial here at the end of June, the fastest recent workout by any dog in this race. The catch: trap 4 is the worst box at this grade, winning just 14.4%, and his last four open runs have all been below his best. Latent class, awkward draw.

Arrives in career-best form — rated 85 when second in open company over the 305-metre sprint last time, and an A3 winner the run before. The question is the trip: tonight is back up to 500 metres, where his record here is one win from four and his best time of 30.42 is the slowest in the field. He tends to be outpaced early and stays on late, which from trap 5 means giving the inside dogs first run at the bend. In form, but plenty to prove at this distance against this company.