Horse Racing / Ben Asgari / 25 August 2010 / Leave a comment Free Bet

Ben Asgari likes the look of Masquerader in Saturday's Group 1 Golden Rose at Rosehill.

Leading jockey Hugh Bowman takes the ride on this colt that caught the eye of punters around the country with his slashing return to racing when he ran second in the Run to the Rose (1300m) at Rosehill.

Trainer David Payne's exciting colt Masquerader looks a great chance to win Saturday's $1Million Group 1 Golden Rose at Rosehill after drawing favourably in barrier 2 in the 15-horse field.

While Payne's other stable-runner Praecido also fared well at the barrier draw (5), it is early race favourite Masquerader that represents Payne's best hope of landing the first Group 1 of the season. Leading jockey Hugh Bowman takes the ride on this colt that caught the eye of punters around the country with his slashing return to racing when he ran second in the Run to the Rose (1300m) at Rosehill.

Despite conceding Squamosa 5kgs, race fitness and a massive head-start at the top of the straight, Masquerader managed to close the final margin to just half a length on the line.

Although one of the least experienced runners in the field, the form around each of Masquerader's three career starts is extremely impressive. At his first, he beat Paul Messara's very smart filly Milanesa over 1100m at Canterbury, before going on to win the Group 2 Todman Stakes (1200), defeating Golden Slipper runner-up Decision Time in the process.

Masquerader then suffered a back muscle injury just hours before acceptances for last season's Golden Slipper, robbing him of the chance to compete in the country's most prestigious juvenile contest.

With the winner (Crystal Lily), runner-up (Decision Time) and fourth place-getter (Hitchinbrook) from last season's Golden Slipper all set for Saturday's Golden Rose, Masquerader gets his chance to prove just where he stands against some of the cream of his age group.

As long as jockey Hugh Bowman is able to get this extremely exciting son of Lucky Owners clear galloping room early enough in the straight, he is a great bet in what looks a very good race.