Lion’s Pride another Stakes winner for much-missed sire

The Listed success of Lion’s Pride at Kempton on Monday showed what a loss Roaring Lion has been to the breeding industry. That said, we are confident that his paternal half-brother Kameko can fill his shoes…

Much like his own sire Kitten’s Joy, Roaring Lion left a big mark on the Thoroughbred industry, both from his exploits on the track, where he won four Gr.1s on the spin in 2018, and now as a stallion.

Roaring Lion was put to sleep in August 2019 and left just a single European crop. Among them, however, was Gr.1 winner and now stallion Dubai Mile, Gr.3 winner Embesto, Listed winners Middle Earth and Running Lion, and other Stakes performers Saint George, Valiant King and Kingswood.

Adding his name to the list on Monday was Lion’s Pride who easily won the Listed Racing TV Floodlit Stakes over a mile and a half at Kempton. Lion’s Pride now has a Timeform rating of 118 and could be a Gr.1 prospect for 2024, just like his half-brother Courage Mon Ami who won this year’s Gold Cup.

Lion’s Pride was bred by Anthony Oppenheimer’s Hascombe & Valiant Stud Ltd out of the Lemon Drop Kid mare Crimson Ribbon. He is trained by John and Thady Gosden and was ridden by Rab Havlin.

Thady Gosden told Racing TV: “It was a solid race on paper, but he’s a horse we’ve always liked and has always had plenty of talent.

“He should do it back on turf. He’s a horse with a good, low action and he likes top of the ground, so hopefully we can find some of that.

“We’ll discuss everything with Mr Oppenheimer, but there’s options here for him and also options abroad, so we’ll see what suits him best.”

Whilst Roaring Lion is sadly no longer at Tweenhills, we do stand another very exciting stallion by Kitten’s Joy in Kameko, the record-breaking QIPCO 2000 Guineas winner whose progeny lit up the recent yearling sales. 

Kameko’s name now also adorns another Gr.1 race he won, the Kameko Futurity Trophy Stakes, won last month by Ancient Wisdom.