Ran a 97 two starts back and comes from Deirdre Barry's kennel, which is striking at 33% — the best trainer number in the race. Trap 2 is a strong box here too, winning better than one in five. He needs the big two to give him an inch, but of the supporting cast he has the most going for him: draw, kennel form and a recent performance that would win plenty of ordinary A1s.

Solid and consistent — never out of the first three in his last five starts and he ran an 83 three runs back — but he has no wins from seven attempts at the course and distance, and the two market leaders have been operating on an entirely different level. His steady late running needs a proper collapse in front to lift him beyond third place.

Matched the fastest time in the field with his 28.92 last time when second, and he is another from the in-form Ramsbottom kennel. He keeps knocking on the door without winning here — no wins from five course-and-distance runs — and on ratings he needs the top two to underperform. A solid each-way profile in an ordinary A1; this is not one.

Runner-up in two straight and rated 89 two back, so he arrives in decent heart, but trap 6 is the worst box at this grade, winning barely one in ten, and his times trail the principals. He has placed in three of seven course-and-distance starts, which sums him up: thereabouts often, first past the post rarely. The draw only hardens that read.