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MASSIVE FIELD FOR 2000 GUINEAS

Twenty-seven horses will line up for tomorrow's Sagitta 2000 Guineas making it the biggest field for 36 years.

All of the main contenders plus numerous outsiders stood their ground at the final acceptance stage for the £300,000 Classic at Newmarket.

They will be trying to emulate Baldric, trained by Ernie Fellows, who won at 20-1 against 26 rivals in 1964.

Misraah, trained by Sir Michael Stoute, was confirmed a runner on Thursday after being put through his paces by his big-race jockey Willie Supple.

"He worked OK and we're hoping he will do well on Saturday," said the owner Hamdan Al Maktoum's racing manager Angus Gold.

"He's always worked like a nice horse and worked very well in the spring. But he didn't win as well as we expected at Newmarket the other week.

"He needs to improve on that to have a chance but he did come back a bit lame from that race and maybe that was a reason.

"My own feeling is that he's a much better horse than he's been able to show so far."

Sheikh Hamdan, who won the race with Nashwan in 1989, also runs the Godolphin hope Fath.

His principal jockey Richard Hills has opted to partner Fath who has not raced since finishing runner-up to Primo Valentino in the Middle Park Stakes.

A number of owners and trainers have several options in the race.

Stoute has a second string to his bow in Kieren Fallon's mount King's Best while Barry Hills is also doubly represented with Distant Music, the winter favourite, and Race Leader.

Richard Hannon runs three - Cape Town, Mana-Mou-Bay and Umistim - as does the Godolphin trainer Saeed Bin Suroor with Broche, Fath and Zoning.

David Elsworth is another to be doubly represented - in his case with Alfini and Scarteen Fox.

With Richard Quinn required to partner Western Summer for his boss Henry Cecil, Elsworth has booked 53-year-old George Duffield to partner Scarteen Fox.

Giant's Causeway, the favourite in some lists, travels from Aidan O'Brien's yard in Ireland along with Bernstein while the other overseas challenger Onlyman is trained in France by Criquette Head.

The race should be staged on near perfect ground with clerk of the course Nick Lees reporting the going as good on the 10-furlong straight and good to soft elsewhere.