Ripon

The market favourite and the most experienced horse in this five-runner field, with a win and a second place from two career races — a better record than any rival here. Jockey David Allan and trainer Tim Easterby are a well-drilled team, winning roughly 1 in 10 of their races together across more than 2,300 attempts, so this is a professional operation. The one question mark is that Warby has never raced on normal ground before, having run on a different surface in both previous outings.

Ran second on its only career race at Carlisle 24 days ago, beaten by just a length and a half, which is a solid starting point for such an inexperienced horse. Like Warby, this horse has never raced on today's normal ground conditions, so that is an unknown for both of the market's main contenders. At odds of 12, it represents a longer shot, but a debut second is more encouraging than what most of the other rivals here have shown.

Finished fourth in its only race at Ayr just 13 days ago, beaten by just over a length, so the experience is fresh and the turnaround is quick. The jockey and trainer have won together only twice from 28 races, which is a low hit rate and worth bearing in mind. There is a small amount of encouragement in how close the defeat was, but this horse arrives needing to take a step forward.

Inca Warrior has only one race to its name and finished fourth in it, which gives us almost nothing to go on in terms of ability. The odds have collapsed from 1.1 to 31, suggesting the market has well and truly written this one off based on that debut. Honest assessment: this is the most unknown quantity in the field right now.