Middle Park hero could be more than a sprinter - Johnston

Charlie Johnston has warned those who have Saturday's Middle Park Stakes winner The Last Lion down as a sprinter not to dismiss his chances of seeing out longer trips.

The son of Choisir sprang a 25-1 surprise in Newmarket's Group 1 six-furlong contest, notching a career best on the tenth start of a remarkable two-year-old campaign that began with a Brocklesby victory in April.

The Last Lion is the first to achieve the Brocklesby-Middle Park double since Donovan in 1888, and while Johnston, assistant trainer to his father Mark, admits further emulating that horse by winning a Derby is probably beyond The Last Lion, a shot at the Qipco 2,000 Guineas has not been ruled out.