FRENCH DERBY possible Fight Your Corner (2.20) has the class to make a winning reappearance in the Fielden Stakes at Newmarket.

As a regular work-watcher on Middleham Low Moor, I have been very taken by the way Mark Johnston's three-year-old has been winging up the gallops in scintillating style.

Fight Your Corner did nothing but improve at the back end of last season, rounding off a fabulously successful campaign with runaway victories at Newbury and Ascot.

That improvement appears to have been maintained over the winter, a crucial factor if the selection is to account for the Irish ace Temple Of Artemis.

Aidan O'Brien, who virtually cleaned up in the three-year-old Classic division during 2001, wouldn't be sending the ultra-consistent Artemis over the water unless he thought the colt was in A1 order.

The opening Swaffam Handicap is a wide-open affair with any number of unexposed horses from top stables going to post.

My three for the short-list from a 23-runner line-up are Ed Dunlop's Lengai, Sir Michael Stoute's Balakheri, plus Fight Your Corner's stable-mate, Affray (1.45).

Affray's sole success to date came in a run-of-the-mill maiden at Nottingham, nevertheless he's a strapping individual with a rosy future judged by the size of his engine.

The Craven Stakes, one of the traditional trials for the 2000 Guineas, has cut up very badly with only six due to face the starter.

The three principals are expected to be Della Francesca, King Of Happiness, and Flat Spin.

Della Francesca, a son of one of my all-time favourite sires Danzig, found seven furlongs just too short on his last visit to the course back in October.

He'll likely relish the step up to a mile and is taken to outpoint King Of Happiness, whose pedigree suggests he may need a mile-and-a-quarter in time.

Nearer to home at Ripon, One Obe (1.55) can build on an encouraging debut at Newcastle at the beginning of the month.

Alan Berry's juvenile ran as green as grass that day and the penny didn't really drop until the closing stages when the leaders had already flown.

With the benefit of that experience, coupled with the knowledge that Berry's team are now in far better fettle, One Obe can take the measure of Hilltime and Outeast.

According to the Official BHB ratings, the David Nicholls' pair Al Muallim and Further Outlook (2.25) should fight out the finish of the following Claiming Stakes.

It's not easy to choose between the duo, both useful sprinters on their day.

But preference is marginally for Further Outlook, who will probably be a shade fitter than his stable companion.

Plenty of the big guns from down south turn out for the one-mile Skelton Maiden Stakes.

Alec Stewart's Alrafid and Ian Balding's Golden Chalice already have some useful form in the book, but I'll take a chance on the smartly-bred Storm Cat newcomer, Wild Cougar (4.10).

Drying ground resulted in a stack of late withdrawals from several disgruntled trainers at Cheltenham yesterday.

It's a pattern which could well be repeated today, although one horse sure to appreciate the underfoot conditions is Castleshane (1.30).

The Steve Gollings-five-year-old won over track and trip before Christmas and there were valid excuses for his latest flop at Aintree where the sharp track simply didn't suit.