Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf: Roaring Lion likely to be heard from

On Sunday, trainer John Gosden was the talk of the racing world after Enable, the 3-year-old filly he trains for Khalid Abdullah, won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Enable, judging from her trainer’s remarks, won’t be coming to Del Mar for the Breeders’ Cup, but a Gosden winner last Saturday in England, Roaring Lion, might well be among the favorites for the BC Juvenile Turf.

Roaring Lion already had been mentioned as a potential Juvenile Turf runner before he won the Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes, a Breeders’ Cup Challenge Win and You’re In race that affords Roaring Lion’s connections a fees-paid berth in the race plus travel expenses to California.

Making his stakes debut, Roaring Lion hung to the left after making the lead about a quarter-mile from the finish of the one-mile, straight-course Royal Lodge, but while that permitted Nelson to gain slightly on Roaring Lion late in the race, Roaring Lion never looked like he’d be defeated. Roaring Lion, by Kitten’s Joy, is owned by Qatar Racing Ltd.

The other overseas Win and You’re In race last weekend, the Jean-Luc Lagardere, was won by the filly Happily, who already has secured a spot, should her connections desire it, in the Juvenile Fillies Turf thanks to a win in the Moyglare Stud Stakes.

U S Navy Flag won the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes on the same Newmarket card as the Royal Lodge, and while he hasn’t been mentioned as a Juvenile Turf prospect, a few horses well behind him in the Middle Park – Beckford, Sioux Nation, and Rajasinghe – remain on the race’s radar. James Garfield, another England-based horse, is definitely pointed to the Juvenile Turf, and Frankie Dettori reportedly committed to ride him in that race this week.

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On this side of the Atlantic, Seabhac captured the Pilgrim Stakes at Belmont on Sunday, winning by a half-length over Voting Control. Seabhac came into the race a maiden but had been fourth in the With Anticipation Stakes in his previous start and got a perfect trip Sunday while racing with blinkers added by trainer Todd Pletcher.

Voting Control fell too far behind in the early going and ran just as well as the winner, and both horses can be considered likely for the Juvenile Turf.

In California, Encumbered, the winner of the Del Mar Juvenile Turf, finished a distant sixth on dirt in the FrontRunner Stakes at Santa Anita and will return to grass racing for the Juvenile Turf.

There is one more Win and You’re In race for the Juvenile Turf, the Grade 3 Bourbon Stakes on Sunday at Keeneland.

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