Spotlight Comments lost after rename

Hey Guys,

I've spent the last weekend sourcing stock photography from various websites, some of which have a series of steps you need to take to figure out what the pricing options are. Having done all that I fed all the information into the spotlight comments of each file. I found this a great way organise the collection.

Then I decide to batch rename the lot per topic. Having done that I see all my spotlight comments are missing. Is there anyway to get them back, or am I going to have to start from scratch? Since I don't even have the image IDs anymore.

Tugging at my hair, developing a bald spot, and worst of all - running out of coffee!