KIEREN Fallon, who will be aiming to retain his crown as champion jockey when the Flat turf season kicks off at Doncaster next month, can light up an otherwise run-of-the-mill day at Southwell tomorrow.

Fallon, now established as number one rider to Henry Cecil's powerful Newmarket stable, teams up with the Karl Burke-trained White Plains in the Rainworth Conditions Stakes and looks poised for victory.

A dual-winner on the sand at the end of last year, White Plains made his reappearance at Lingfield 10 days and turned in a sound effort to finish second to Steamroller Stanly.

With that race under his belt, White Plains should be a stronger proposition this time. And with Fallon booked for the mount, punters should look no further for the winner.

Fallon and Burke can also capture the Maplebeck Claiming Stakes with Slim Prior.

The three-year-old is no world beater, but will not need to be to win this modest contest. A respectable third to the in-form Fast Franc in a claiming race at Lingfield last time, Slim Prior will appreciate this drop in class.

River Ensign is napped to return to the winning trail in the Kirkby-in-Ashfield Fillies' Handicap.

A highly-strung horse who has to be led to the start of her races, River Ensign has held her form pretty well this winter. A winner over this course and distance at the start of the year, she shaped respectably on her latest outing here when finishing fourth to Rude Awakening after losing ground leaving the stalls.

Tomorrow's principal jumping action is at Sandown where Bengers Moon looks the one to be in the Aldaniti Novices' Chase.

Trained by Paul Nicholls, whose horses have been in such cracking form this winter, Bengers Moon, a former useful point-to-pointer got off the mark under National Hunt Rules with a wide-margin success at Wincanton last month.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.