JEEPSTAR (3.05) holds strong claims in his bid to take Epsom's £20,000 Great Metropolitan Handicap back up to Tim Easterby's North Yorkshire base.

The gutsy gelding made great strides during 2004, picking up valuable contests at Pontefract and Musselburgh, prior to a creditable effort when fourth in Doncaster's November Handicap.

Easterby's gelding also looked in pretty good nick on his recent reappearance at Catterick, finishing third to Far Pavilions, a very useful customer in his own right.

Jeepstar will be all the fitter for that run and his rivals better not be lulled into a false sense of security by allowing the selection a soft lead, because that's when he's at his most dangerous in the hands of the tactically astute rider, Mick Fenton.

In the ten-furlong City And Surburban Stakes, back-to-form King's Thought (3.40) is in with a great chance of taking the money.

Like so many of the Steve Gollings-trained team, King's Thought hadn't been in the greatest of fettle until showing definite signs of a revival when staying on in game fashion to collect third-place money at Ripon last week.

Darryll Holland takes the ride on the good-bodied six-year-old, who will not be inconvenienced by the easy ground, plus has been given a glimmer of hope by the handicapper having come down 7lbs in the weights over the past 12 months.

Martin Todhunter's ploy of dropping Crathorne (4.50) in distance could well do the trick for the Catterick-bound five-year-old.

Crathorne didn't appear to quite see out the trip when third to Spring Breeze over a distance of two-miles at the track last time out. He does possess a fair turn of foot, so if the field set off at an end-to-end gallop, that will also significantly enhance his prospects.

For the closing Ivan Luis Apprentice Handicap, Mynd (5.20) gets the nod having routed a similar standard field at Ripon last Thursday.

The monsoon which engulfed that meeting suited Mynd, however he does act on today's slightly faster surface and is taken to complete a quick-fire double for in form handler, Richard Whitaker.

* Godolphin's 1000 Guineas possible Suez pleased connections in a racecourse gallop on the grass at Nad Al Sheba in Dubai yesterday.

Covering seven furlongs under Frankie Dettori, she went very steady early on as she tracked Kerrin McEvoy aboard Fen Shui, before gradually quickening the tempo.

Dettori was able to ease his mount to the front inside the final furlong to conclude a satisfactory piece of work with the UltimatePoker.com-sponsored Classic fast approaching.

Trained by Michael Jarvis as a juvenile, Suez won her first two starts before finishing second to Magical Romance in the Group One Cheveley Park Stakes on her final outing.

The filly was one of a group of a dozen horses to work, with King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes winner Doyen a notable name among them.

Partnered by Dettori, the five-year-old passed lead horse Naheef near the furlong pole and then came home virtually alongside his stablemate following a mile gallop.