Johnston stalwart Fire Fighting set to blaze a trail in feature

2.05 Kempton
Betfred Mobile Magnolia Stakes l Listed l 1m2f l 4yo+ l ITV4/RUK

Fire Fighting looked to have lost none of his appetite for the game when runner-up on his reappearance at Dundalk recently and is the highest-rated in this eight-runner field.

The six-year-old's last appearance at Kempton was a winning one in Listed company in 2015 and Mark Johnston's stalwart is sure to make it a true test with suspect stayers such as Sovereign Debt in the field.

Sovereign Debt is making his first appearance for Ruth Carr after the recent retirement of David Nicholls but has a 3lb penalty to shoulder for his victory at Listed level at Leopardstown last October. Since then the grey has won a local Group 2 in Qatar, but he has yet to race over this trip.

Also penalised is Quarterback, winner of the Group 3 Stockholm Cup on his penultimate start and who represents Norwegian trainer Rune Haugen. He has set up base at Rae Guest's yard in Newmarket for the year but has yet to have a winner.

Go for Gosden

John Gosden has won this three times in the past ten years, most recently with Arctic Cosmos (2012) and Romsdal (2015).

Punters' paradise

The favourite or joint-favourite has obliged in each of the past five years, most recently Our Channel (11-4) a year ago.

What they say

Rune Haugen, trainer of Quarterback
We had the virus in the stable until three or four weeks ago and he was affected, but he's fine now. As he's our highest-rated horse we need to get him going and we're using this as a prep for the Jockey Club Stakes at Newmarket in May.

Ruth Carr, trainer of Sovereign Debt
I've had him only about three weeks but he seems straightforward. This is stretching his stamina but we need to qualify him for Good Friday. He's very laid-back, which generally stands horses in good stead when they stretch out.

John Gosden, trainer of Linguistic
He's never run on the all-weather but he's worked on it plenty at home and should enjoy it. He's been gelded since last season and has been going nicely in his work so hopefully can run a nice race back from a layoff.

Marco Botti, trainer of Poeta Diletto
He joined us from Italy, where he won the 2,000 Guineas, but his form tailed off a bit after that. He's in good form for his first run for us but may be a bit overrated on a mark of 108. This will tell us whether he stays further than a mile.

Charlie Appleby, trainer of Viren's Army
He'd been a bit disappointing until we stuck the cheekpieces on him at Meydan last time, where he won a handicap in good style. He shipped in last week and is fit and well and is bred for for this surface.

Archie Watson, trainer of Absolute Blast
We were delighted with her first run for us when she finished third in the Winter Derby, and this looks the next logical step on the way to finals day back there on Good Friday.