BANK on Bacchanalia (3.00) to capture the feature event of the afternoon at Catterick, the £8,000 Tote Exacta Fillies' Nursery.

Les Eyre has taken the extra precaution of snapping up champion jockey elect Kieren Fallon to ride the selection, a tremendously game scorer at Chester late last month.

Bacchanalia appeared to be dead and buried that day as Mick Blanchard's Sewmuch Character sailed past at the distance, but the gutsy daughter of Blues Traveller simply wouldn't countenance defeat, battling back to get her head in front right on the line.

Eyre's filly loves easy ground and by all accounts is best going left-handed, a huge advantage at Catterick where you need to negotiate the sharp home turn at lickety-split pace.

Connections of Kirby's Treasure (3.30) have endured the agony of watching their horse finish runner-up than five times in a row.

It's been hard work for Alan Berry's son of Mind Games, but if at first you don't succeed then try, try, again. And it does look like the Lancashire handler has finally found a winning opportunity for Kirby's Treasure in division one of the Cumbria Maiden Auction Stakes.

Division two is surely booked for Cheeney Basin (3.30), a cracking third on only the second start of his career at Thirsk in September.

Maidstone-based John Best travels Established (4.30) all the way up from Kent to contest the Skyram Handicap - a journey I fancy will not be in vain.

Best's stayer is not quite up to the form that brought success at Nottingham and Lingfield last term, but he's knocked on the door once or twice lately, suggesting his turn might be near.

There's some fair jumping action at Southwell, where a couple of Middleham raiders take the eye.

First of all Minster York (1.50) shouldn't be far away in the opening Novices' Handicap Chase.

He put in a clear round at the trappy course prior to opening his account in a similar standard event at Sedgefield. Since then Andy Crook's seven-year-old has run a lacklustre race on a track which didn't really suit at Perth.

Fellow North Yorkshire trainer Kate Milligan could also be in the money via Piccadilly (2.20) in the following three-mile Handicap Chase.

The consistent six-year-old mare jumped like a buck when second over an inadequate 21 furlongs at Sedgefield last week.

She now has the benefit of an extra three furlongs to cover, which could make all the difference to her prospects of re-visiting the winners' enclosure at the Midlands venue.

Finally to the sand at Wolverhampton and more history in the making with Madame Jones (4.10) bidding for a record-breaking 11th handicap win of the season in the Spar Convenience Store Handicap.

In truth the amazing mare should have done it at Southwell recently. Unfortunately her inexperienced apprentice jockey Fran Ferris let her loose too early in the straight, which resulted in his partner running out of gas right on the wire.

To be fair Fran is one of our most promising young flat pilots and I don't expect him to make the same mistake twice.