 Cecil had won the race five times before with One in a Million (1979), Fairy Footsteps (1981), Oh So Sharp (1985), Bosra Sham (1996) and Sleepytime (1997), the last of which had given Fallon his only previous winner in the race.Wince's win was also the first and only British classic success for Wince's sire Selkirk.The race attracted a field of twenty-two runners, nineteen trained in the United Kingdom, two in Ireland and one in France.