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 Dr. Alanna Zantingh and vet Dr. Rob Hitchcock have both provided cautiously upbeat bulletins on his well-being. Dr. Zantingh told tweenhills.com, “Roaring Lion is doing much better today. He's much brighter than he was yesterday. We've given him handfuls of grass every couple of hours–and he's eating it really, really well, wishing for more. His stomach has been handling it well and his vitals have been within normal limits all day. He's starting to get a little annoyed with us–which I think is a very good sign.”
Added Dr. Hitchcock, “It's still fingers crossed, but we're happy with him this morning.”
The grey was one of the middle distance stars of last summer in Britain-running third in the G1 Investec Derby before rattling off his four top-level triumphs for John Gosden, culminating in the Queen Elizabeth II S. at Ascot–before retiring to stud at the end of the season.
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