Meehan seeking stamina answers with Steventon contender Rashabar Brian Meehan is on a "finding-out mission" with Rashabar in Saturday’s BetVictor Steventon Stakes at Newbury. A shock 80-1 winner of the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot last summer, the Holy Roman Emperor colt followed that surprise with two runner-up finishes in French Group Ones before concluding his juvenile campaign. He returned this season with a solid second behind Jonquil in the Greenham Stakes, and has since finished fourth in both the Irish 2,000 Guineas and the St James’s Palace Stakes, chasing home the exceptional Field Of Gold in both. This weekend marks Rashabar’s first attempt at 1m2f, stepping up in trip to Listed company. Trainer confident in class "He’s very well and we’re on a finding-out mission to see whether he’ll get the trip," Meehan said. "I’ve always felt he would stay and we’re doing it try to open up more possibilities for him. He’s a Group One horse and he needs to have different bullets in his arsenal really, to give him options to try to get that Group One win." "He ran very well in the Irish Guineas and I was happy with his run at Ascot. He was hampered twice by two different horses up the straight and I felt he ran a very solid race." Rain could complicate matters With showers forecast at Newbury, softer ground might add a layer of complexity to this stamina test. "I don’t think cut in the ground bothers him," Meehan admitted. "But I don’t know how I’d feel about soft ground on a fact-finding mission over this trip."
