held up and well behind, hanging left and right over 2f out, rapid headway and continually switched left and right entering final furlong, carried head high, finished strongly under hand riding, never able to challenge
towards rear and off the pace, hung left over 2f out, headway over 1f out, strong run inside final furlong, finished well, going on close home
off the pace and always behind
went right start, in touch, ridden over 2f out, soon weakened
chased leaders, ridden over 1f out, stayed on under pressure inside final furlong
chased leaders, ridden over 1f out, stayed on under pressure inside final furlong, led towards finish
in touch, ridden along over 3f out, no impression final 2f
in touch, ridden and hung left over 2f out, soon weakened
badly hampered start, well in rear, no chance after
led on far rail, ridden and headed over 1f out, weakened towards finish
went left start, held up in mid division, ridden and headway over 1f out, stayed on inside final furlong, not pace to reach leaders
ROSKO can get the better of Rasselas in landing this competitive handicap; Verluga and Seldom are likely dangers if bouncing back from below-par efforts. Brian Ellison's charge landed a competitive lady riders' contest at Ascot recently and while it's true that everything went his way - they went fast and he had the best rider in the race on board - we're hopeful he can repeat the dose in this lower-grade affair. Indeed the fact he drops two grades for us negates the 5lb rise and Dale Swift is a fine young rider, so with pace in the race courtesy of Dhhamaan and Casela Park a big run is likely. Of that pair the latter makes more appeal as a less exposed type who has the best of the draw, especially with connections making the journey from Ireland, but in all likelihood Rasselas is the biggest threat to our selection. The drop in trip is of no concern to Billy Cray's mount who landed a better race than this at Newcastle over a mile and a 4lb rise seems fair. Dashing Beauty can't be ruled out having found Lingfield's six furlongs an inadequate test recently, Whispered Times has work to do with Rasselas and looks in the handicapper's pocket while Baybshambles appears out of sorts. With that in mind Seldom and Verluga look the chief threats to our preferred pair; the latter lost his race at the start at Beverley and is now tried in blinkers while Seldom got no run last time and is best judged on previous efforts. This has the makings of a tight encounter, one taken to go to Rosko.
Casela Park (IRE) 10-1 (9-13) Chased leaders, 2nd halfway, ridden to lead briefly over 1 1/2f out, no extra in 2nd 1f out, kept on same pace final furlong, 4th of 17, 4l behind Gracchus (8-13) at Leopardstown 7f hcp 50-75 gd in Jul.
