Sean Levey Ebor Festival Day Four rides blog: 'Rosallion is a justified favourite'

Ladbrokes ambassador Sean Levey previews his four rides on Day Four of Ebor Festival in York on Saturday, including with favourite Rosallion in the City of York Stakes.

• King Of Cities - York - 1.50 race odds

• Rosallion - York - 3.00 race odds

• London City - York - 3.35 race odds

• Dark Thirty - York - 4.10 race odds

I've been really pleased with King Of Cities' season so far. He's been running really well over a mile and looked good against tough opposition in Seagulls Eleven last time out at Goodwood earlier this month. I think he'd benefit from an extra furlong if I'm being honest, but with the slight step up in trip here, every extra yard is going to help us.

A few extra days for Rosallion to recover isn't a bad thing, but it's a little bit frustrating because I personally think - and I think Richard [Hannon] agrees - that he would have walked away with his Group 1 victory last weekend, and that's why we were looking forward to going out to France so much. 

The mile would have been perfect for him, as would the track. Everything would have been suited to him on the day. We would sit and argue with anyone that on form, he would have been the winner of that race, but look, ultimately we didn't take part because of the minor setback.

But he's worked himself out of that extremely well. Look, by no means should you disregard the fact that he's dropping back to seven furlongs, something he hasn't done since he was a two-year-old. But at the same time, you need to take into account that he is a very good - and versatile - horse, and this is the only opportunity present for him at this moment in time. This might be the last chance he'll get with the ground he wants to win a Group 1 this year. 

On form, he's a justified favourite, and there's no doubt that I think he's good enough to walk away with it on Saturday. He's the multiple Group 1 winner in the field.

Qirat has been declared for this one too, and we're happy to take him on after Goodwood. I've said it before, but we gave him too much rope in the Sussex. We could have done with a better draw here, as we're in 11 of 11. But we're in there now, and we're going to have to do the best with the cards we're dealt.

London City isn't one I know too much about, to be honest. When I'm in this kind of position, once I've been declared to ride the horse, I'll then go through the race, and break it down to what I think every horse is capable of, and how I think the race will be ran. 

Then I'll speak to Aidan [O'Brien] on the day, he'll fill me in, and tell me what he thinks - as much as he can - about the horse. Then, together, we'll talk about what we want to do and how we want to approach the race.

Look, at a first glance, we're in a really good place in what looks like a competitive field. The horse has form at this track, winning here last year with Ryan [Moore] on board. The next few days, as I say, are about assessing the rest of the field and breaking the race down, but you can always trust Aidan knows what he's doing. 

He's always been a great supporter of mine, and it's a privilege to have been given the opportunity for him on Saturday.

Dark Thirty is fast-becoming a clear favourite of mine. I get on really well with the horse. He's been a lot better since he got gelded late last year. He's a highly competitive horse off his current mark, but at the same time, the handicapper has him where he wants him.

We will be benefitted by the fact that he has very good form on the track - that's a huge plus. He won a handicap there over seven furlongs a couple of years ago, and he made all last time in a big field, in a six furlong race earlier this year, where he just got beat. He's vulnerable to a well-treated improver, but he brings solid form over course and distance.

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