The race attracted a field of nine runners: seven from the United Kingdom, one from Germany and one from France. The Godolphin stable fielded two runners; Grandera the winner of the Singapore Airlines International Cup and Prince of Wales's Stakes and Narrative, the winner of the Dubai City of Gold. The other British trained runners included Nayef (Champion Stakes, Tattersalls Gold Cup) who was accompanied by his pacemaker, Sir Effendi, the 2000 Guineas winner Golan (unraced since finishing sixth in Japan Cup eight months previously), the Barry Hills-trained Storming Home, and the Hardwicke Stakes winner Zindabad. France was represented by the filly Aquarelliste, the winner of the Prix de Diane, Prix Vermeille and Prix Ganay. The other runner was Boreal, a German colt who had won the Deutsches Derby in 2001 and beaten Storming Home in the Coronation Cup. Grandera headed the betting at odds of &lt;a href="Fractional%20odds"&gt;13/8&lt;/a&gt; ahead of Golan (11/2), Zindabad (11/2) and Nayef (7/1).