Fortunate Isle lines up in form, and gets the vote over Queen's Best, Babodana and Granston. Fortunate Isle has improved with each run, and came good at Beverley 17-days ago, gaining a narrow success over Sir Arthur. He has not been put up much as a result, and should make his presence felt here. A heavy-ground winner at Pontefract for Barry Hills last year, he responded well to first-time cheekpieces on his latest start, and with the aids on again, he makes some appeal. Queen's Best goes on the ground and will be spot on now after his recent Sandown second, but has to race off a career-high mark and is worth taking on, while Babodana can get his toe in but has not won since landing the 2004 Lincoln. Granston has been shaping well but has it to do at the weights with Krugerrand on last year's running, and in fact the latter, going for a hat-trick in this event, is sure to have been laid out again, so any market support should be heeded. For the winner though, we return to Fortunate Isle.
Raptor (GER) 25-1 (9-8) Raced stand's side group, slowly into stride, towards rear, ridden and headway over 2f out, stayed on well inside final furlong, 4th of 20, 5l behind Very Wise (8-11) at Newcastle 1m hcap (2) gs in Mar.
Tucker 20-1 (9-10) Tracked leaders, led over 2f out, headed over 1f out, no extra, 4th of 14, 2 1/2l behind Unshakable (8-8) at Epsom 1m 1f hcap (2) gs.
Babodana 16-1 (9-5) Chased winner until 4f out, soon ridden, short of room 2f out, stayed on, 3rd of 5, 4l behind Dunelight (9-5) at Goodwood 1m lst stk (1) gd.
Queen's Best 9-4fav (8-11) In touch, ridden to lead 2f out, pressed over 1f out, headed inside final furlong and soon outpaced by winner, 2nd of 7, 3l behind Killena Boy (8-8) at Sandown 1m hcap (3) gs in May.
Kamanda Laugh 10-3 (9-0) Soon led, ridden and headed well over 1f out, soon faded, 6th of 9, 9l behind Gentleman's Deal (9-1) at Southwell 1m hcp 0-100 (2) fbs in Dec.
Folio (IRE) 8-1 (9-4) Held up towards rear, never a factor, 9th of 11, 17l behind Ballinteni (8-11) at Windsor 1m 2f hcp 0-90 (3) gd in May.
Granston (IRE) 4-1 (8-6) Mid-division, headway over 2f out, driven over 1f out, one pace final furlong, 3rd of 8, 4l behind European Dream (8-5) at Ripon 1m hcp 0-100 (2) gd in May.
Fortunate Isle (USA) 7-2 (9-2) Tracked leader, ridden to lead over 2f out, driven and kept on final furlong, won at Beverley 1m 2f hcap (4) gd in May beating Sir Arthur (8-6) by 1 1/2l, 8 ran.
Collateral Damage (IRE) 20-1 (8-8) Behind, headway over 2f out, ran on final furlong, 5th of 12, 1l behind Flipando (9-3) at Redcar 1m 2f hcp 0-105 (2) gf in May.
Baan (USA) 12-1 (8-5) Chased leaders, lost place over 5f out, weakened over 3f out, tailed off, last of 7, 43l behind Sweet Indulgence (8-12) at W'hampton 1m 4f hcp 0-100 (2) pol in Dec.
Wovoka (IRE) 8-1 (9-5) Led at strong pace, headed 2f out, weakened quickly and eased when no chance final furlong, 13th of 15, 11l behind Greek Well (9-3) at Sandown 1m 2f hcap (4) gd.
Krugerrand (USA) 9-1 (9-4) Mid-division, ridden along and headway over 2f out, stayed on same pace final furlong, 6th of 13, 8l behind My Arch (9-1) at Ripon 1m 2f hcp 0-85 (4) gd in May.
Vicious Warrior 25-1 (8-6) Mid-division, ridden over 2f out, headway over 1f out, one pace, 7th of 12, 5l behind Royal Dignitary (8-11) at Ripon 1m hcap (3) gf.
