Verdict

Difficult to be confident about any of these and a purely speculative vote goes to MONADREEN DANCER. She's yet to win a race but went very close when runner-up over C&D behind today's rival Crocodile Bay last time and is taken to reverse running. The latter has since ran poorly at Southwell, while Divine Rule has been well beaten in a couple of starts since landing a seller here last month. Cristaliyev is still looking for his first victory and so is Kucharova, but she's less exposed than the former and makes more appeal.

Formwatch

Cristaliyev 10-1 (8-10) Held up in touch, took keen hold, hampered over 1f out, not much room entering final furlong, stayed on same pace, 5th of 13, 4l behind Valley Tiger (8-12) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f hcp 0-65 (6) pol in Jan.

Saucy Buck (IRE) 10-1 (8-12) Mid-division, ridden over 2f out, not pace to challenge, 6th of 12, 3l behind Shelagh (9-6) at Lingfield 7f hcp (0-65) (6) pol in Nov.

Monadreen Dancer 13-2 (9-2) In touch, ridden and headway entering final furlong, stayed on to go 2nd near finish, 2nd of 6, 1/2l behind Crocodile Bay (8-10) at Lingfield 7f app hcp 0-60 (6) pol in Jan.

Kucharova (IRE) 14-1 (9-1) Chased leaders, hard driven over 4f out, kept on same pace final 2f, 7th of 11, 6l behind Super Duplex (9-7) at Kempton 1m 2f hcp 0-60 (6) pol in Jan.

Divine Rule (IRE) 40-1 (8-4) Led after 1f, ridden and headed 2f out, weakened under pressure over 1f out, 8th of 9, 14l behind Spinning Ridge (9-1) at Kempton 1m clm stks (6) pol in Jan.

Crocodile Bay (IRE) 10-1 (8-11) Mid-division, weakened 2f out, 8th of 14, 10l behind Fluctuation (9-8) at Southwell 7f hcp 0-60 (6) fbs in Jan.

Batchworth Blaise 11-1 (8-10) Held up in early stages and keen, headway on outside to chase leading pair over 5f out, ridden 2f out, weakened soon after, last of 7, 9l behind Querido (9-0) at Kempton 1m hcp 0-50 (7) pol in Jan.

My Jeanie (IRE) 20-1 (8-8) Held up towards rear on inside, never on terms, 8th of 13, 9l behind Diplomatic (9-3) at Kempton 7f hcp 0-52 (6) pol in Jan.

Graceful Spirit 4-1 (8-9) Tracked leaders, led over 1f out, headed entering final furlong, kept on same pace, 4th of 10, 3 1/2l behind Dannios (8-7) at Yarmouth 1m mdn hcp 0-65 (6) gf in Jun.