Sean Levey Thursday rides blog - August 20, 2026

York - 2.25 - Rollthedicebaby

We kick things off on Thursday with Rollthedicebaby for Richard Hannon in the Harry's Half Million By Goffs. This is a race which Richard has a great record in, winning it five times. It looks as though this is the most difficult this contest has ever been, especially following the declaration of Sun Goddess and Tokaido... even Satellite Of Love. So it's going to be an extremely competitive race, and while I think Rollthedicebaby is the perfect candidate for a race like this, it looks as though she's going to have to find an awful lot of form on the three horses at the top of the market. 

York - 4.10 - Ashariba

Ashariba is next for me for David Menuisier in the listed race. She's a listed winner herself; a filly that's been very competitive in France all of last year. But her sole run in England was up at Newcastle where she was no doubt disappointing. She has a lot to prove, and this is going to be a hard contest to prove how good she is, as this race boasts a lot of quality.

 York - 4.45 - Shadow King

Then we finish the day with Shadow King in the Nursery. Again, this is a horse with a lot of ability - he won very nicely at Kempton earlier this year, and then again at Doncaster last month. We've always thought a lot of him, and the blinkers definitely brought the best out of him in that race at Doncaster. He won that decisively, and you'd argue he didn't have the clearest or the best of runs around Goodwood last time out, and the track didn't suit him on the day, but York will definitely suit him over seven furlongs, and you could definitely say we haven't seen the best of him yet. Whether or not that will mean he's one to follow on the day, it's hard to say. But I'm confident this track will suit him and we're hopeful of a positive result.

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