By Ben Cleminson -
Romantic Warrior will be given the chance to create more history by chasing a record third Group 1 FWD QEII Cup win next month after enhancing his status as one of the world’s premier middle-distance gallopers with a gripping victory in the HK$13 million (AED6million) Group 1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup at Sha Tin on Sunday.
After a stirring battle with Voyage Bubble at Sha Tin, Romantic Warrior became only the third horse since the turn of the century after Vengeance Of Rain and Designs On Rome to snare all three of Hong Kong’s top-level 2000m contests – the Hong Kong Gold Cup, QEII Cup and Hong Kong Cup. Danny Shum’s champion will now bid for a fourth Group 1 this season by pressing for an unprecedented third QEII Cup win, having already snared the G1 W. S.
Cox Plate at Moonee Valley in October and a second Longines Hong Kong Cup in December before adding a sixth career G1 success on Sunday under James McDonald. Having partnered Romantic Warrior to a fifth Group 1 win, McDonald was awe-struck by the gelding’s effort to fend off fellow Hong Kong Derby victor Voyage Bubble by a neck after the pair forged clear at the 300m marker in an electrifying tussle. “He (Romantic Warrior) is unreal, he just keeps surprising me – an unbelievable horse. He’s the undisputed champion.
He deserves all the accolades he gets. I can’t stress how much of a privilege it is to ride him,” McDonald said, revealing his absolute faith in Romantic Warrior was critical to tactical decision-making. “He’s the horse that does it all. He makes you look good all the time. His tenacity and will to win is phenomenal. I suppose instincts kicked in and I went with the flow. When you ride such good horses, you can do what you want to do and even if I made a little mistake during the race, he is probably good enough to overcome it and that was probably my mindset. “Even though it worked out really, really well, I’ve got that much faith in the horse that you can do things on him that you wouldn’t normally do.” A tilt at the G1 Yasuda Kinen (1600m) in Japan in June remains an option for Romantic Warrior.
