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Dangerous obstacle has the Italian horse retiring (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

lethal

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'dangerous' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?

'obstacle has the italian horse retiring' is the wordplay.
'obstacle' becomes 'let' ('let' could historically mean an obstruction).
'has' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'the italian' becomes 'la' ('the' in Italian).
'horse' becomes 'H' (synonyms).
'retiring' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'la'+'h'='lah'
'lah' reversed gives 'hal'.
'let'+'hal'='LETHAL'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for lethal that I've seen before include "Murderous" , "All the change can be deadly." , "describing a killer?" , "Capable of causing death" , "Enough to cause death" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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