Three-year-old colt Roaring Lion put himself into contention for Cartier Horse Of The Year honours following his stunning success in the extended 10-furlong G1 Juddmonte International at York on August 22.

Other highlights at the four-day Welcome To Yorkshire Ebor Festival included Stradivarius collecting the WH Stayers’ Million, as he added the G2 Weatherbys Hamilton Lonsdale Cup to his earlier victories this year in the G1 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot and the G1 Qatar Goodwood Cup.

The 28th Cartier Racing Awards will be presented at a glittering ceremony before an invited audience of 300 at the Dorchester Hotel, London, England, on the evening of Tuesday, November 13, 2018.

The longstanding and prestigious awards were established in 1991 to reward excellence in horseracing. There are eight equine awards, ranging from the Cartier Horse Of The Year to the Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt and Cartier Two-Year-Old Filly.

European horseracing’s top awards are delivered through a tried and tested combination of points earned by horses in Pattern races (30%), combined at the end of season with the opinions of a panel of racing journalists/handicappers (35%) and votes from readers of Racing Post and The Daily Telegraph plus ITV Racing viewers (35%).

The participation of the public plays a crucial role in determining the winners of each year’s Cartier Racing Awards and gives horseracing fans the chance to put forward their favourite horses in a meaningful way.

In addition to the equine awards, the Cartier/Daily Telegraph Award of Merit goes to the person or persons who, in the opinion of the special 15-strong Cartier Jury, has/have done the most for European racing and/or breeding either over their lifetime or within the past 12 months. The 10 latest recipients have been Sir Michael Stoute, Aidan O’Brien, Jack Berry, Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Jim Bolger, Team Frankel, Barry Hills, Richard Hannon, John Oxx and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

Roaring Lion (126), owned by Qatar Racing Limited and trained by John Gosden, landed the G1 Juddmonte International by three and a quarter-lengths from Poet’s Word (140), which moves the son of Kitten’s Joy up to third place in the standings for Cartier Horse Of The Year behind that rival, who previously landed Ascot’s G1 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes and G1 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes, and star three-year-old filly Alpha Centauri (144).

Alpha Centauri, trained by Jessica Harrington in Ireland for owner the Niarchos Family, has now won four G1 mile contests in succession. Her latest outing saw her take on all-aged, all sex competition for the first time when she was the stunning winner of the G1 Prix du Haras de Fresnay-le-Buffard Jacques le Marois at Deauville on August 12. She had previously landed the Tattersalls Irish 1,000 Guineas, Coronation Stakes and Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes.

The daughter of Mastercraftsman also holds a clear lead in the Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly division, with dual French G1 heroine Laurens (88) currently in second place. One of the most impressive winners at York was Sea Of Class (64), who added the G1 Darley Yorkshire Oaks to her earlier victory in the G1 Darley Irish Oaks.

Roaring Lion is out in front in the Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt division, having finished third behind Godolphin’s Masar (68) in the G1 Investec Derby at Epsom Downs and won Sandown Park’s G1 Coral-Eclipse prior to his Juddmonte International victory. QIPCO 2000 Guineas winner Saxon Warrior (80), fourth in the Juddmonte International and runner-up at Sandown Park, currently lies in second.

Poet’s Word still has a clear lead in the Cartier Older Horse category ahead of G1 Prix Ganay and G1 Investec Coronation Cup winner Cracksman (88) and Lightning Spear (76), successful in the G1 Qatar Sussex Stakes.

Stradivarius (112) holds a commanding advantage in the Cartier Stayer division as he landed the WH Stayers’ Million for his connections when successful in the G2 Weatherbys Hamilton Lonsdale Cup at York on August 24. Owned by Bjorn Nielsen and trained by John Gosden, the four-year-old Sea The Stars colt is undefeated in four starts so far in 2018 with his earlier victories coming in the G2 Mansionbet Yorkshire Cup, G1 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot and G1 Qatar Goodwood Cup. Vazirabad (55), runner-up to Stradivarius at Royal Ascot, is his closest pursuer.

The Cartier Sprinter category looks to be wide open. Currently tying for the lead are Battaash (48) and Merchant Navy (48). Battaash has been successful twice in G2 company so far this year but finished a below-par fourth to Alpha Delphini (34) in the G1 Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes at York on August 24, while Merchant Navy was retired to stud following his victory in the G1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot. Godolphin’s Blue Point (46) was successful at Royal Ascot in the five-furlong G1 King’s Stand Stakes and finished third to Alpha Delphini at York, once place behind Mab’s Cross (36).

Standings for Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt and Cartier Two-Year-Old Filly are published for the first time in 2018 today.

Advertise (56) landed the first G1 juvenile contest of 2018 when taking the Keeneland Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh on August 12 and leads the way among the colts. Pretty Pollyanna (48) and Signor Cabello (48) were separated by three-quarters of a length when first and second respectively in the G1 Darley Prix Morny at Deauville on August 19 and the pair jointly head the standings for Cartier Two-Year-Old Filly.