Leicester

The market favourite and the horse the editorial verdict highlights as the one to beat — Masked Warrior has finished third and second in his two career races, showing consistent promise without yet winning. The big question mark is the 192-day absence since his last run; that's over six months off, and horses don't always come back at their peak first time out. His jockey Darragh Keenan is the best-credentialled rider in the field right now, winning 3 from his last 10 races, and trainer William Haggas is firing — but this horse needs to handle the return from a long break.

Making his racecourse debut today, so there is zero form to study — you are betting purely on potential. He has the best draw in the field (stall 1), which matters on this course where low draws hold a clear advantage. His sire Showcasing is known for producing horses that hit the ground running early in their careers, so a debut run in the mix is not out of the question.

Galba showed something on debut — a third-place finish — but then ran seventh at Newmarket last time out, beaten nearly eight lengths. Like most of this field, he has never raced on today's dry ground, so that is an open question. Richard Hannon's yard is in solid form, winning roughly 1 in 6 races recently, but Galba will need to find a good deal of improvement to trouble the market leaders.

Able Astra finished eighth on her only career run five months ago, and now drops two class levels for this race — a notable step down that hints the team may feel she was thrown in too deep first time out. She has never raced on dry ground and returns after a 157-day break, so there are plenty of unknowns. At 34/1 she is a big price, but the class drop is the one thing that makes her worth a second glance.