Roaring Lion

In the third installation of our Value Sires series, we will dig into the sire crop with its first foals born in 2020, and therefore with its first yearlings this year. After some two years in waiting since most of these retired to stud, the judges got the chance at the recently concluded foal sales to lay eyes on the first progeny of most of them, and though it is still incredibly early days, their opinions, corroborated through their actions in the ring, will have an impact on the perception...

In Moment of 2020, the staff of TDN Europe reflect on their favourite moments in racing for the year. Future Classic winner Kameko (Kitten's Joy) first came on my radar with his nose second in the G3 Solario S. in August of 2019 after winning on debut at Sandown in July. I especially noticed the flashy dark bay because he bore the same Qatar Racing silks as another favourite of mine, the late Cartier Horse of the Year Roaring Lion, also a Kentucky-bred incidentally by Kitten's Joy. A $90,000 Keeneland...

Qatar Racing colourbearer Perfect Sign (Ire) (Charm Spirit {Ire}) gave pilot Oisin Murphy his 1,000 winner. The reigning champion jockey and retained rider for Qatar Racing teamed up with the juvenile filly for trainer Michael Dods at Southwell. The 25-year-old Irishman, who was the champion apprentice in the UK in 2014, was appointed number one Jockey for Qatar Racing in 2016. On board Qatar Racing's Kameko (Kitten's Joy) he gained his first Classic success in the 2020 G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas. Murphy told Sky Sports Racing: "I ride for great...

After it was announced that QIPCO had ended its sponsorship of the G1 Irish Champion S. and G1 Prix du Jockey Club,  Leopardstown thanked QIPCO for their support on Thursday. QIPCO had assisted with Longines Irish Champions Weekend since it began in 2014, but is now turning its focus toward its sponsorship activities in Britain. (Click here for some highlights of the Irish Champion S.) "I would like to thank QIPCO and Sheikh Fahad for their incredible support of the Irish Champion S. for the past six years," said Leopardstown...

"It's one of those cruel things where you don't know whether to laugh or cry." There is a noticeable conflict of emotions, too, in David Redvers's voice as he talks about some of the first foals on the ground by Tweenhills's late Cartier Horse of the Year Roaring Lion (Kitten's Joy). They are as good as could be hoped for, but they will be all there will be. "If the horse was still alive, we'd be making some deafening clamour over the quality of the foals he has produced," Redvers...

The first foal from the lone crop of 2018 Cartier Horse of the Year Roaring Lion (Kitten's Joy), a colt, was born on Jan. 11 at Jeffrey and Phoebe Hobby's Brightwalton Stud in Newbury. He is the second foal out of Counterweight (Ire) (Azamour {Ire}), who is a sister to a trio of stakes horses including the G1 Irish Oaks and G2 Ribblesdale S. second Scottish Stage (Ire) (Selkirk) and the G2 Blandford S. winner Eleanora Duse (Ire) (Azamour {Ire}). Brightwalton Stud Manager Sean Keane said, "He is a well-made,...

It's hard to know quite what Kitten's Joy has to do in order to gain a commercial standing commensurate with his achievements. As it is, the champion North American sire of 2018 once again proved unable to crack the top 30 sires ranked by the average value of their yearlings in 2019. Not that he should take it personally. We all know that the American industry talks a good game about the growing importance of the turf program, but won't follow through when young stallions as well-bred and accomplished as...

Cartier Horse of the Year Roaring Lion (Kitten's Joy) appears to be on the road to recovery after undergoing surgery twice in the previous 10 days for colic and has returned to Cambridge Stud. Trained by John Gosden to win the Eclipse, Juddmonte International, Irish Champion S. and the Queen Elizabeth II S. at Ascot, the son of Kitten's Joy emerged as the champion of his generation. He covered his first book of mares in the spring but it was when he was shipped to New Zealand to stand at...

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Today's Observations features a seven-figure KEESEP yearling graduate. 5.45 Yarmouth, Novice, £14,000, 2yo, 7f 3yT SUN CUISINE (Medaglia d'Oro) was a $1.3-million purchase by Godolphin at the Keeneland September Sale who debuts for the Charlie Appleby stable. The February-foaled bay is the first foal out of the GII John...

Last year's Cartier Horse of the Year Roaring Lion (Kitten's Joy), who underwent colic surgery on Sunday hours after clearing quarantine for his debut season at Cambridge Stud in New Zealand, had a second operation on Thursday. A statement from Cambridge Stud read, "Roaring Lion had been making positive progress since his initial surgery last Saturday, but began to show symptoms of discomfort overnight. The symptoms were evaluated by the Cambridge Equine Hospital team, with some international consultation, and the decision was made to return to the operating table. "There...

Roaring Lion (Kitten's Joy), named 2018 Cartier Horse of the Year on the back of a quartet of Group 1 wins, is recovering well so far since undergoing emergency surgery for colic. Cambridge Stud staff reported the stallion "much brighter" on Tuesday following his weekend operation shortly after arriving to take up winter stud duties in New Zealand. The 4-year-old, owned by Qatar Racing and housed at David Redvers's Tweenhills in Gloucestershire, was shipped to Cambridge Stud but then taken ill after leaving quarantine on Saturday morning. Cambridge Stud's surgeon...