Last year’s Juddmonte winner Roaring Lion had been as short as 5/1 for the Qipco 2,000 Guineas before his disappointing seasonal reappearance in defeat in last week’s Craven but may now swerve the race altogether.
The son of Kitten’s Joy fell to a defeat behind Masar of Charlie Appleby’s and appeared to be caught out by the Godolphin colt’s turn of foot in the closing stages and was later passed by White Mocha of Hugo Palmer’s yard.
His masterful trainer, John Gosden, has been mulling over the option of stepping the three-year-old up in trip and ripping up the Newmarket plans and heading for York, or further afield.
Speaking last night he said: “He way he is training he looks more like a mile-and-a-quarter horse. So he could go for the Dante and we could look at the Prix du Jockey Club.”
Gosden, who won the Dante in 2015 with Golden Horn and Wings of Desire in 2016, wasn’t completely set on the change of tact and offered some reasoning for his colt’s display.
“He definitely needed the race and the style of the race wasn’t what he wanted. It was a steady pace and William Buick quickened it up three and a half furlongs out. That didn’t suit Roaring Lion - look at his run at Doncaster and in the Royal Lodge.”
There are a total of 83 entrants left in the running for the Dante, which will be run on May 17 next at the Yorkshire venue.
Meanwhile one Rajasinghe has seen his Guineas prep go better than Roaring Lion’s did, with Richard Spencer opting to send him for a gallop at Newmarket before the race rather than a using a race as preparation.
Spencer revealed: "The plan has always been to give him a racecourse gallop prior to running there.”
And he seemed pleased with how his alternative approach to sending his July Stakes winner to win once more at the course. "Our bubble hasn't been burst yet,” he said.
