York

The solitary Group 1 over 7f in Britain has unsurprisingly produced a stellar field. This week's rain has put a different complexion on matters, casting doubts over the persuasive faster-ground credentials of Notable Speech, Lake Forest, Zavateri and Japanese runner Satono Reve. There are no such concerns with Rogue Diplomat who showed he belonged at Group level at Goodwood, Ten Bob Tony who is hard to knock, or Puerto Rico who must enter the equation on his slow-ground form. However, it could pay to jump aboard Andrew Balding's accelerating bandwagon as Flora Of Bermuda broke new ground in winning over 7f last time and her course record bodes well, and then there's MARVELMAN. He delivered a clear career best the last time he raced on ground with any soft in the description and, after a perfectly acceptable return to Britain on the AW, his run behind Lake Forest and Rogue Diplomat at Goodwood essentially counts for nothing when he pulled his rider's arms out for the majority of that slowly run race.[Alistair Jones]