DEPENDABLE Darasim (2.25), who already has the Goodwood Cup in his trophy cabinet, can add the GNER-sponsored Doncaster Cup to his collection of silverware this afternoon.

Having finished a gallant third in the Group 1 Ascot Gold Cup, Darasim justified favouritism at Glorious Goodwood, pulling right away from his rivals under a confident ride by Joe Fanning.

Fanning gets on famously with the Markus Graff Swiss-owned stayer, so tactics will not present any problems, neither will Mark Johnston be anything other than 100 per cent confident, seeing as he produced Double Trigger to win the £100,000 contest three times in the late 1990s.

Queen Of Poland (1.15) gets the nod to maintain her unbeaten record by taking the May Hill Stakes, a one-mile fillies-only Group 2 event.

Although David Loder's two-year-old began her career with a hard-fought victory in far lesser company at Yarmouth in June, she stepped up significantly on that effort by edging out Maids Causeway in the Listed Star Stakes at Sandown.

Maids Causeway has since proved the quality of that form by going on to collect the Group 3 Sweet Solera Stakes at Newmarket's July meeting. The only downside of that particular success was that she incurred a 3lb penalty, making Queen Of Poland's task a trifle easier on the revised terms.

Arguably the most competitive race of the entire four-day fixture is the seven-furlong Park Stakes, in which not one of the eight runners can be dismissed lightly.

Amanda Perrett's top-of-the-ground specialist Tillerman sets the standard by virtue of past performance, however he's not getting any younger and could be vulnerable to the more youthful challenge emerging from the two three-year-olds, Fong's Thong (1.50) and Pastoral Pursuits.

There's precious little between the pair on official ratings, however preference is marginally for Fong's Thong, who recently crossed the North Atlantic after campaigning on the dirt in the USA and immediately made an impact with a brace of clear-cut successes.

Fong's Thong is only happy when ploughing a lone furrow up front, which means jockey Jimmy Fortune will be turning up the heat on their rivals from the minute the stalls fly open for the £100,000 affair.

Racing North ten-to-follow pick Granston (4.45), who hit a mid-season lull after scoring at Ripon in the spring, appears to be well and truly on the comeback trail following a coupe of decent runs at Newmarket.

Granston often pulls too hard for his own good, but provided the vastly-experienced Richard Quinn can anchor him early on, the James Bethell-trained raider possesses sufficient pace to out-sprint his rivals in the closing stages.

Lambourn handler Paul Cole has taken maximum advantage of the nearby proximity of Epsom by sending Peter Paul Rubens (3.25) on the short journey due east for the valuable £40,000 Valiant Fortune Listed Stakes.

After three successive wins in handicap company, Cole tries the rapidly-improving colt in a better standard of race, a ploy not likely to fail given the progressive profile of his new stable star.

* Elliots World puts his unbeaten record on the line in the Group Two SGB Champagne Stakes at Doncaster tomorrow.

The son of King's Best landed the Acomb Stakes at York's Ebor meeting last month, following up a debut success over the same course in July.

The juvenile bids to give his Middleham-based trainer Mark Johnston back-to-back victories in the seven-furlong contest after his Lucky Story took the race 12 months ago.

Johnston also has Leo's Lucky Star among the 12 horses declared at yesterday's 48-hour final stage.

One of two other trainers double-handed is John Gosden, with Iceman and Jonquil.

Meanwhile, Godolphin and Frankie Dettori dominated the opening afternoon of the St Leger meeting at Doncaster yesterday with a fabulous 179-1 four-timer.

The winners were Swan Nebula (5-1), Echoes In Eternity (5-1), Librettist (evens) and Monsoon Rain (6-4), and as a result Dettori now trails Kieren Fallon by five (140-145) in the title race after the reigning champion had just one winner (Mr Velocity) at Epsom.