Roaring Lion wins soul stirring battle in Eclipse Stakes
The honour roll of winners includes many of the greatest racehorses and sires in history and among those successful in the past 60 years are Ballymoss (Mossborough), Busted (Crepello), Royal Palace (Ballymoss), Mill Reef (Never Bend), Brigadier Gerard (Queen’s Hussar), Sadler’s Wells (Northern Dancer), Dancing Brave (Lyphard), Giant’s Causeway (Storm Cat), Sea The Stars (Cape Cross) and New Zealand-bred Coolmore sire So You Think (High Chaparral).
Joining this illustrious list in 2018 is three-year-old Roaring Lion (Kitten’s Joy) who may ultimately not rank high among past Eclipse winners but who last week proved himself a high class animal with considerable courage.
The 2018 Eclipse Stakes field was not a vintage one and was weakened by the scratching of the Derby (Gr 1, 1m4f) winner Masar (New Approach), But Roaring Lion, who finished third in the Derby, was there to supply some real competition for old foe 2,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1m) winner Saxon Warrior (Deep Impact), older horses Cliffs of Moher (Galileo) and Hawkbill (Kitten’s Joy) plus three others.
It was, though, a contest to remember and produced a truly exciting finish as the John Gosden-trained Roaring Lion and Saxon Warrior staged a titanic battle in the home straight, Roaring Lion prevailing by a neck at the post with Cliffs of Moher in third place two and a half lengths back.
Last season those placings were reversed when Saxon Warrior fought back to maintain his unbeaten juvenile record to defeat Roaring Lion narrowly in the Racing Post Trophy (Gr 1, 1 m) at Doncaster after the Kitten’s Joy (El Prado) colt had headed him in the closing stages.
Over his two seasons of competition Roaring Lion has been ultra consistent, going into the Racing Post Trophy unbeaten after three starts, the last of them resulting in a stylish victory in the Royal Lodge Stakes (Gr 2, 1m) at Newmarket while earlier this season leading into the Derby he captured the Dante Stakes (Gr 2, 1m2.5f) at York.
Bred in the United States, Roaring Lion is one of 83 stakes winners for his veteran, Kentucky-based sire Kitten’s Joy who has been America’s leading sire of winners on turf for the past five seasons, 2013 to 2017, and currently stands at a fee of US$60,000.
In the United Stakes where racing on dirt predominates and offers relatively few tests of stamina Kitten’s Joy has done a sterling job at stud, in his early seasons attracting few mares not owned by his owner/breeder Ken Ramsay. The grandson of Sadler’s Wells (Northern Dancer) retired after an excellent racing career which saw him go out as a multiple Grade 1 winner on turf over ten furlongs and 12 furlongs with earnings in excess of US$2 million.
Some 72 per cent of Kitten’s Joy’s runners are winners and his fillies generally perform as well as his colts and geldings.
Vionnet (Street Sense), the dam of Roaring Lion, won three races and registered three stakes placings at Santa Anita, California, among them a third in a Grade One contest.
A half-sister to stakes winners Moulin de Mougin (Curlin), Schiaparelli (Ghostzapper), Alexis Tangier (Tiznow) and Bronson (Medaglia d’Oro), Vionnet is one of five winners for her dam Cambiocorsa (Avenue of Flags), who in turn is a sister to California Flag (Avenue of Flags), a stakes winner of 11 sprint events which brought in earnings of US$1,137,225.
Roaring Lion’s dam Vionnet is linebred to Mr. Prospector (Raise A Native) via two sons and carries one line of Northern Dancer (Nearctic) which blends well with the genetic background of Roaring Lion’s father Kitten’s Joy who is linebred to Northern Dancer, Hail To Reason (Turn-to), Tom Fool (Menow) and the brother and sister Lt. Stevens (Nantallah) and Thong (Nantallah) with Buckpasser appearing in both halves of Roaring Lion’s pedigree.
The next appearance for Roaring Lion may be in next month’s International Stakes (Gr 1, 1m 2f) at York where he may clash with the older Poet’s Word (Poet’s Voice), also a recent Group 1 winner.