George Rooke can be Hamilton’s local hero

KEITH Dalgleish has been among the winners recently and the Carluke trainer is hoping for more success at Hamilton Park tonight.

Pat Cosgrave: appeal success. Picture: PA

Based only 20 minutes from the track, Dalgleish saddles the ex-Kevin Ryan-trained George Rooke in the £10,000 Strathclyde Loch Handicap. Dalgleish said: “He ran well on his first run for us when second at Ayr. That was over seven furlongs and we’re dropping him back to six. The form looks solid as the winner [Uncle Dermot] won again the next day and the second that time [Le Chat D’Or] won at Ayr on Monday. He’s run well on soft ground so that shouldn’t be a worry and we’re trying him in cheekpieces for the first time. He’s got ability and should give a good account of himself.”

Among the seven rivals George Rooke will face is Alan Berry’s Economic Crisis, bidding for her sixth course success.

Borders brothers Jamie and Tom Hamilton go head-to-head in the opening hamilton-park.co.uk Amateur Riders’ Handicap when they partner Fol Hollow and Spoken Words respectively. They will be weighed out by their father Michael Hamilton who is the BHA clerk of the scales on duty for the evening.

Meanwhile, Pat Cosgrave has been successful in his application to the British Horseracing Authority to not reciprocate the lengthy ban he incurred in Dubai.

The rider was initially handed a six-month ban by the Emirates Racing Authority (ERA) following his performance on the Mike de Kock-trained Anaerobio at Meydan in March. Cosgrave was found to have moved his mount off the rail in the straight to allow stablemate Vercingetorix through on the inside to win the Group 1 Jebel Hatta, with Anaerobio eventually third. The ban was reduced to four months following an appeal to the ERA in May.

Cosgrave asked the BHA not to impose the suspension in this country and had been free to ride until a hearing in London was heard yesterday morning. The ban had been due to expire on 16 July. The BHA tweeted: “The disciplinary panel has upheld an application from Pat Cosgrave that suspension imposed upon him by ERA should not be reciprocated. Cosgrave is free to continue riding in Britain as a result.”