The John O’Shea-trained Lion’s Roar (NZ) (Contributer) took a step closer to resuming when finishing sixth under a quiet Hugh Bowman ride in a trial over 900m at Randwick last week.

The Group One winning son of Contributer has pleased his conditioner as he works towards lucrative targets this spring.  

“He has done really well and we couldn’t be happier with him. He’s a big strong horse now and he has got a real zest for racing since the autumn,” O’Shea told Racing HQ.

“He is going to be competing at the highest level, but he looks to have made good physical improvement from three to four.”

The Gr.1 Randwick Guineas (1600m) winner placed fourth in the Gr.1 Rosehill Guineas (2000m) and third in the Gr.1 Australian Derby (2400m) in the autumn and will be prepared for the Gr.1 George Main Stakes (1600m) at Randwick on September 18.  

“After the George Main we will probably look to run him in the Epsom (Gr.1, 1600m). From there we will just play it by ear. There is a nice program for him,” O’Shea said.

A $65,000 Karaka yearling graduate of the Wellfield Lodge draft, Lion’s Roar is raced by Champion Thoroughbreds and O’Shea said he had similarities to his former Group One galloper Hauraki, who finished runner-up in the George Main to Winx before winning the Epsom.

“They are very similar horses in terms of what they achieved at three. They have got a similar profile and follow a similar racing pattern,” O’Shea said.