>ph - 990,000 records
>gh - 1,245,000 records
>gd - 5,355,000 records
>We have non-clustered indexes on all fields involved. We are having SQL Server analyze and suggest indexes and are trying to see what is causing this. But in general, this seems to be the opposite of what you should expect.
>
>BTW, the server is a multi-processor box with 8gb RAM. GB networking, etc.

What happens if you create a clustered index on gh.phFK and gd.ghFK? Are the tables fragmented? What is "faster?"

Would you reply with the show plan? Use the text version.\

-Mike