The word immortal was being used when talking about the great Irish bred horse ROMANTIC WARRIOR even before he took to the Sha Tin racecourse in Tokyo late Saturday night Eastern time. The world’s richest racehorse, trained in Hong Kong for his career by Danny Shum, upheld that reputation when he overcame numerous hurdles on his way to winning the Standard Chartered Champions and Chater Cup, completing a Triple Crown sweep. He is only the third horse to win the Hong Kong Triple Crown.
“Triple Crown winner – he thoroughly deserved that,” said jockey James McDonald after the race. “I loved an article I read about the boss [Shum] saying he’s already an immortal and I totally agree with him.
“He didn’t need to win this to be that but he’s put the cherry on top. He should be Horse of the Year this year and I think he’s stamped that by winning the Triple Crown.”
Speaking immediately after Romantic Warrior claimed a record-extending 15th Group 1 by a Hong Kong horse under James McDonald, joining River Verdon (1993/94) and Voyage Bubble (2024/25) as a Triple Crown winner, Shum said: “I’m such a lucky guy, lucky trainer – because I can train Romantic Warrior.
“Before the race we already set up the plan – put him to sleep, let him relax, and try to hit the front. He hit the line in the last 400m, so James has done a great job, he’s top-class jockey.”
Claiming a HK$10 million Triple Crown Bonus, Romantic Warrior boosted his world-record prizemoney earnings to HK$288.7 million (about $36 million US) for owner Peter Lau after the eight-year-old overcame Numbers by half a length with Deep Monster a further length-and-a-half away in third in 2m 26.67s – the same time Voyage Bubble recorded last season.
The Triple Crown comprises the HK$13 million G1 Stewards’ Cup (1600m), HK$13 million G1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup (2000m) and today’s Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup.
Settling fourth behind Numbers and Romantic Thor, Romantic Warrior was well off a slow pace but McDonald simply allowed his gelding to lope along. Romantic Warrior quickening sharply into the stretch, came home the last 2 furlongs in 22.77, traded bumps with Deep Monster and edged clear.
There was some drama following the race when the stewards posted the inquiry sign and showed the head on replay of the strtech run. Deep Minster was aiming for a seem inside of Romantic Warrior but ran out of room and the two brushed. The stewards ultimately did not change the order of finish. View head on:
https://x.com/i/status/2058508323532783843
McDonald was slapped with a 3 race-day suspension and a $120,000 HK fine for careless riding.
Shum is considering sending the Hong Kong International Sale graduate to Conghua [racecourse in mainland China] for the first time before identifying next season’s targets with the winner of 24 races from 31 starts.
“The plan is to give him a break. I will think about whether to send him to Conghua, same as Ka Ying Rising – Ka Ying Rising is very happy (there). So, I might send him to Conghua, give him a little break, and then see how he goes,” Shum said.
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