Qatar Racing planning to reserve some top mares for Roaring Lion

Mating plans for the Qatar Racing broodmare band may not have been finalised yet, but some notable names have already been set aside for the operation's exciting new stallion recruit Roaring Lion.

Recently crowned Cartier Horse of the Year in Europe, Roaring Lion landed four consecutive Group 1 races this season carrying Qatar Racing's claret and gold silks – the Eclipse, Juddmonte International, Irish Champion Stakes and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes – and finished third in the Derby.

The son of Kitten's Joy joins the Qatar Racing stallion roster at Tweenhills in Gloucestershire at a fee of £40,000 for 2019.

Among those high-achieving home mares he will cover are:

• Common Knowledge, a daughter of Rainbow Quest who is the dam of Group winners Astrophysical Jet and Coral Wave
  
  
• Heartless, a winning New Approach three-parts sister to Irish Derby hero Treasure Beach and the classy pair Count Octave and Honor Bound
  
  
• Lady Dragon, a winning and Listed-placed daughter of Galileo and Cherry Hinton Stakes winner Spinola
  
  
• Melodic Motion, a winning and Group 2-placed Nathaniel half-sister to Sussex Stakes winner Here Comes When
  
  
• Molly Malone, a Group 1-winning daughter of Lomitas who has produced the Group 1-placed Morgan Le Faye. She was bought for €600,000 at Arqana last December
  
  
• Purr Along, a Group 3-winning and Group 2-placed Mount Nelson half-sister to stakes performers Katawi and Lady Francesca
  
  
• Rich Legacy, a May Hill Stakes scorer by Holy Roman Emperor out of a Galileo half-sister to German Derby winners Boreal and Borgia
  
  
• Roheryn, a Listed-winning and Group 2-placed daughter of Galileo and Group 3 winner La Chunga

“We're in the incredibly fortunate position to have Roaring Lion, a horse with the pedigree, temperament, character, resilience and raw ability to make him the most important stallion to retire to stud in Britain this year, and possibly for a couple of years,” said Qatar Racing racing and bloodstock manager David Redvers.

“When John Gosden says he was the toughest three-year-old he's ever trained, that sums it up; he's trained a lot of three-year-olds. The horse is cut from a different cloth and I think he'll be a breed-shaper, as will Zoustar.”

Roaring Lion retires to Tweenhills alongside reigning champion Australian first-season sire Zoustar and Sussex Stakes winner Lightning Spear. They join Charm Spirit, Havana Gold and Hot Streak, who will also stand under the Qatar Racing ensign at the farm next year.

“For Qatar Racing to be standing stallions of that magnitude this early on in our relatively young career is quite special, and many of our best mares will be supporting the newcomers,” Redvers added.

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