Roaring Lion looks danger in Craven test

RacinG: Gosden’s colt backed to take last year’s form into 2000 Guineas

It will be a huge surprise if ROARING LION cannot get his season off to a winning start in the Group Three bet365 Craven Stakes at Newmarket.

John Gosden’s colt is behind only two Aidan O’Brien-trained runners in the betting for next month’s 2000 Guineas which is surely testament to the form he showed last term.

He bowed out of the 2017 campaign with three wins in four runs, with his only defeat coming when narrowly edged out by Saxon Warrior in the Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster.

Roaring Lion should possibly have won that day, too, as he hung a bit in the finish, conceding a vital few yards that really would have counted given the final verdict of a neck.

The other Group Three feature on the final day of the Craven meeting is the Connaught Access Flooring Abernant Stakes and SPIRIT OF VALOR is an interesting contender for O’Brien here after running in both the English and Irish Guineas last year. SELECTIONS

CHELTENHAM: 2.05 Banjo Girl, 2.40 The Bay Birch, 3.15 Petticoat Tails, 3.50 Same Circus, 4.25 Cubswin, 5.00 The Nipper, 5.35 Diamond Gait.

NEWMARKET: 1.50 Captain Jameson, 2.25 Surya, 3.00 SPIRIT OF VALOR (NAP), 3.35 Roaring Lion, 4.10 Improve, 4.45 Nordic Lights, 5.20 Occupy, 5.55 Plunger.

DOUBLE: Spirit Of Valor and Roaring Lion.