Rosika

Rosika ran an eye-catching race to finish second to Baila Me in a listed fillies' race, run over a mile and five furlongs at Lingfield on Thursday. Settled out the back in the early stages by Ryan Moore, Sir Michael Stoute's filly was still disputing last place going around the bottom bend. Moore had been a hostage to his positioning really. If he had wanted to make ground before the home turn he would have had to have gone four or five horses wide, so he delayed his move for as long as he could, ultimately forced five horses wide going around the home turn. Rosika's progression was impressive, she circled the field and set off up the home straight in pursuit of the leader Baila Me. She was just unfortunate, however, that Baila Me is as good as she is and had skipped clear, and she never really had a chance of catching the Godolphin filly. She did stay on well up the home straight to easily beat Storyland for second place.

It is impossible to know how Rosika would have done if she had enjoyed a better passage. My suspicion is that she wouldn't have beaten Baila Me anyway, but that Godolphin filly is a top class filly, winner of a Group 1 race in Germany last September, and Rosika would probably have given her a race. This was just the Sakhee filly's seventh ever race. On her previous run she had been impressive in winning a 12-furlong handicap at Goodwood off a mark of 86. The mark of 93 that she had been allotted before this race almost certainly under-estimates her ability, although she is probably in for another hike now, and handicaps may be a thing of the past for her anyway. A daughter of Sakhee out of a Blushing Groom mare, with lots of stamina in her pedigree, it is not surprising that she stayed this trip well, and she will be an interesting middle distance filly for next season.

29th October 2009

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