Champion Roaring Lion has died at New Zealand’s Cambridge Stud after suffering complications from two bouts of colic.

Roaring Lion had been making progress but the colic returned and he had to be euthanised on Friday night.

The English horse was scheduled to stand at Cambridge after serving his first northern hemisphere mares earlier this year.

He was diagnosed with colic immediately after leaving quarantine in late July and had been treated since.

“Roaring Lion had been making a steady recovery and his support team were very pleased with his progress. Unfortunately, he suffered a further bout of colic late this evening and the decision was made to put him down,” Cambridge Stud said.

“Cambridge Stud would like to acknowledge everyone from Cambridge Equine and the stud who supported the horse through a very difficult time.

“We particularly feel for Roaring Lion’s UK connections, Sheikh Fahad al Thani and his family and David Redvers and his family at Tweenhills.

“Our loss is keenly felt in New Zealand but theirs is unimaginable.”

Last year’s champion European three-year-old, Roaring Lion was trained by John Gosden to win four Group One races from 1600m to 2000m, earning a Timeform rating of 130.

Sheikh Fahad described Roaring Lion as a the horse of a lifetime as he expressed his sorrow on Twitter

“I am obviously distraught about Roaring Lion, he was so brave right to the end. He was a horse of a lifetime in all his characteristics I would like to thank everyone at the Cambridge Equine hospital and Cambridge Stud for all their efforts and professionalism to the end. RIP” he said.

Credit: AAP