Extraordinary Romantic Warrior wins Yasuda Kinen
Romantic Warrior (Acclamation) completed an extraordinary season by winning the Yasuda Kinen (Gr 1, 1600m) at Tokyo on Sunday afternoon in a stunning performance which left his jockey James McDonald almost speechless after the Danny Shum-trained globetrotter snared a fifth successive Group 1 feature.
Underlining his status as one of the world’s premier racehorses, Romantic Warrior became Hong Kong’s third Yasuda Kinen victor, joining Fairy King Prawn (Danehill) in 2000 and Bullish Luck (Royal Academy) in 2006.
With elite-level victories in the Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m), Hong Kong Cup (Gr 1, 2000m), Hong Kong Gold Cup (Gr 1, 2000m), QEII Cup (Gr 1, 2000m) and Sunday’s success, Romantic Warrior clinched his eighth Group 1 overall, enhancing his career record to 15 wins from 20 starts.
Settling fifth, Romantic Warrior was angled into the clear in the home straight as the field climbed the sharp rise near the 300-metre mark before striking the lead. Driven out by McDonald, Romantic Warrior had half a length to spare on the line from Namur (Harbinger), while Soul Rush (Rulership) was a further nose further back in third.
Watched in steady rain by a crowd of 44,577, Romantic Warrior clocked 1m 32.30s.
“James McDonald is world-class and he gave him a great ride. He loves Romantic Warrior and Romantic Warrior loves him a lot. He always tries his best for James,” Shum said.
“I wasn’t too nervous because I was confident in my horse, my team and my jockey.”
Composing himself after posting his first win in Japan in one of the nation’s premier races, McDonald said: “He’s a champion racehorse and it’s a very proud day for all of us – the whole team – because to showcase him to Japan was something very, very special in such a prestigious race.
“I’m almost lost for words when I ride this horse because he’s got a big heart and he tries his best all the time.
“It’s such a hard jurisdiction to race in. There’s such good horses and great jockeys so it’s an absolute privilege to be here and to be winning such a prestigious race is very, very special.”
Romantic Warrior – a Hong Kong International Sale graduate and Hong Kong Derby (Listed, 2000m) winner – has now amassed HK$151 million (approx. AU$28.97m) in prize-money, a figure bettered only by Golden Sixty’s HK$167 million (approx. AU$32.04m).
In the post-race elation, Shum ruled out a tilt at the Takarazuka Kinen (Gr 1, 2200m) at Kyoto on June 23 and confirmed Romantic Warrior would return to Hong Kong with Voyage Bubble (Deep Field), who finished unplaced in Sunday’s race, early this week to be spelled.
“I think the best thing for the horse is to give him a break and let him rest. He’s not going to race anymore this season,” Shum said.
Zac Purton, who rode Voyage Bubble, said the gelding failed to handle the left-handed track, beating just one rival home.
“The barrier [15] didn’t make a difference – I got beat 20 lengths,” he said.
“He’s handled soft ground in Hong Kong before. He travelled on it today, his action was fine. I don’t think the track was a concern for us. He just didn’t fire in the straight.
“That’s twice now he’s gone left-handed and he’s performed poorly both times, so I think left-handed is not really suitable for him – get him back going right-handed.”