‘Lion’ & Enable Clash Possible at York

[Wandering Eyes]

John Gosden trainees Roaring Lion (Kitten’s Joy), who won the G1 Coral-Eclipse S. at Sandown on Saturday for Qatar Racing, and Juddmonte’s champion and G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe heroine Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), out with a knee issue since early May, could meet in the G1 Juddmonte International at York on Aug. 22.

“If the owners want to do so, I’d have no qualms about that at all,” Gosden told Racing UK‘s Luck On Sunday programme. “I hope we get into that position. It would be exciting if we did. The plan is to get Enable back hopefully for York. She’s training fine at the moment and we’ll be looking at the Juddmonte International or the [G1] Yorkshire Oaks [on Aug. 23]–one of the two. She’s cantering and I’m very happy with her. I’ll start building her up into half-speeds soon. The ability is still there and mentally she just loves training. We just don’t want a recurrence of what put us on the back-burner in the spring.”

As for Roaring Lion, Gosden reports him to have taken the Sandown race in his stride, having beaten the Aidan O’Brien-trained Saxon Warrior (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in a thrilling finish.

“He’s in good order this morning,” he said. “He’s improving. His last three races have been great and Oisin [Murphy] rode him perfectly. It was never the plan to be three wide and virtually back in last early on, but if you drop to the rail at Sandown it’s the easiest place to get boxed in and that wouldn’t have been very funny.”

G1 Prince of Wales’s S. favourite and runner-up Cracksman (GB) (Frankel {GB}) has excited Royal Ascot well after losing to Poet’s Word (Ire) (Poet’s Voice {GB}).

Said Gosden, “He got distracted by the girls [fillies] walking back from the [G2 Duke of]Cambridge [S.], so he wasn’t focused. He’s been in great form at home since and we’ll just work our way back again. He’s freshened up amazingly since Ascot. He did run a very fast time figure and the winner is a super horse and handled the conditions better than us, but I do have to say our boy didn’t exactly show up for the fight.”

“It would be great if we could get them both [Cracksman and Enable] to the Arc,” Gosden continued. “Everything that we do will be to get them to the Arc and I think they are both best on good ground, good to soft ground. It suits them both perfectly. That would be beyond exciting.”

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