Qatar Racing's star racehorse and in-demand sire Roaring Lion was reported to be showing signs of improvement this morning as he recovers from emergency surgery to his small intestine after a bout of colic on arrival in New Zealand.

He was one of the stars of last year when he won the Dante, Coral-Eclipse, Juddmonte International, Irish Champion Stakes and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and named Cartier Horse of the Year.

His first covering season based at Tweenhills Stud in Gloucestershire passed without incident before he was shipped to New Zealand to cover mares from there and Australia at the renowned Cambridge Stud in Waikato.

An update was posted on their website this morning.

"Thankfully we can report better signs from Roaring Lion as he continues his recovery from serious colic surgery.

He is recuperating at Cambridge Equine Hospital, where he is being monitored closely by their expert team as well as David Redvers and Tweenhills stallion groom Reece Sutcliffe."

Cambridge Stud's surgeon Dr Alanna Zantingh issued this update this morning - posted on Tweenhills website:

"Roaring Lion is doing much better today. He’s much brighter than he was yesterday. He has pretty good motility on ultrasound and his stomach has remained small, so we’ve given him handfuls of grass every couple of hours and he’s eating it really, really well, wishing for more.

"His stomach has been handling it well and all his vitals have been within normal limits all day. He’s starting to get a little annoyed with us which I think is a very good sign!"

Cambridge Stud's veterinarian Dr Rob Hitchcock added:

"Roaring Lion has had a really good night. All his vitals are within the normal parameters. He's got some good gut signs and he's been comfortable through the night. We'll continue to give him some food in small amounts and monitor his progress. His intestines have worked and he had a really good soft manure pass in the night which is very positive. It's still fingers crossed but we're happy with him this morning."

A very relieved David Redvers said: "He’s looking much, much brighter. He’s had the equine physio in giving him massages today. He’s eating again; he’s excreting well and he’s looking generally irritable, which is a good sign. He’s looking for more food and when he gets it he’s licking the pot. He’s on lots of cut grass and I’m very pleased to report things are looking much better."