Gosden taking patient approach with promising Lion’s Pride

Trainer holds Roaring Lion colt in high regard.

John and Thady Gosden will take things gently with Lion’s Pride, who they see as the best of the Roaring Lion progeny they have trained.

Roaring Lion was a four-time Group One winner for John Gosden as a three-year-old. A son of Kitten’s Joy, he also won the Dante and was third in Masar’s 2018 Derby.

He won the Coral-Eclipse, Juddmonte International and Irish Champion Stakes, before dropping back to a mile to take the Queen Elizabeth II at Ascot in a sensational three-year-old campaign.

Lion’s Pride, owned by Anthony Oppenheimer, could similarly become a late bloomer. He was narrowly beaten by Crystal Mariner on his Newcastle all-weather debut over 10 furlongs in early May.

He was not seen again until upped an additional furlong on the all-weather at Kempton last week, where he justified odds-on favouritism with a cosy three-length success under Robert Havlin.

Gosden senior has no immediate plans for the colt – who is a half-brother to Gold Cup winner Courage Mon Ami – although he hinted that bigger things could soon be on the horizon.

He said: “He’s always been a very talented horse and he couldn’t run last year.

“He’d run the once this year and was green – he’s still learning. But he has got a lot of potential and we’ve always liked him.

“Of the Roaring Lions, he’s always been the best one, I think. They invariably do better with age.

“We will stay at a mile and a quarter right now, probably go for a novice and kick on from there.”

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