Warrior enters world’s elite with stunning Cup success
They came to bow down to the old king and left saluting a powerful new prince of Hong Kong racing after Romantic Warrior (Acclamation) left a high-class global field trailing in his wake at Sha Tin yesterday, with a thunderous performance in the HK$34 million (approx. AU$6.4 million) Hong Kong Cup (Gr 1, 2000m).
Hong Kong racing’s biggest crowd since the corresponding day in 2019 gave dual Horse of the Year (2020/21 & 2021/22) Golden Sixty (Medaglia D’Oro) a glowing reception despite his failure to wear down California Spangle (Starspangledbanner) in the HK$30 million Hong Kong Mile (Gr 1, 1600m).
However, Danny Shum’s gelding banished any sense of anti-climax with a devastating success that left his rider James McDonald saying that “he’s got everything a good horse needs and he’s got it in spades.”
McDonald had been asked to take the ride on Danny Shum’s gelding once it became clear that Karis Teetan would not recover in time to resume the relationship with the muscular son of Acclamation (Royal Applause) in last month’s Jockey Club Cup (Gr 2, 2000m).
The Kiwi marked the greatest year of his career when receiving the World’s Best Jockey Award at a glittering Gala Dinner on Friday and the 30-year-old ace has no doubt that Romantic Warrior compares well with any of the elite global performers who have carried him to the peak of his profession.
“This horse has a lot of great attributes but his greatest is that he’s so adaptable at taking a position,” he said.
“I promise you, that was really as good as it looked. He was perfect from start to finish today and he’s right up there with any of the other really good ones I’ve ridden, don’t worry about that.”
If McDonald was always confident, then the same could also be said of the winning trainer, who stood quietly in a covered corner of the weighing in area as a field of 12 including five Japanese raiders and Irish hope Order Of Australia (Australia) jumped from the gates.
Shum didn’t bat an eyelid as the freewheeling Panthalassa (Lord Kanaloa) edged across his charge to take the lead running into the first bend and cast his eyes up and down from race card to television screen as the Tenno Sho Autumn (Gr 1, 2000m) runner-up took the field through solid early fractions of 25.34 seconds, 23.53 seconds and 23.51 seconds.
Content to settle back into sixth as Ka Ying Star (Cityscape) and Money Catcher (Ferlax) pressed the leader passing halfway, McDonald asked Romantic Warrior to improve on the outer rounding the home turn and Shum took a deep breath and moved his multi–coloured glasses to the top of his forehead.
And then, as Romantic Warrior loomed up to challenge with just over 300 metres to run, the winning trainer finally let his pent-up emotions bubble to the surface.
A deep-throated “Good Boy” rang around the side of the Sha Tin stand as McDonald asked his mount to deliver the killer blow and Romantic Warrior didn’t hesitate for a second, powering four and a half lengths clear to take over from globetrotting French star Jim And Tonic (Double Bed) as the widest–margin winner in Hong Kong Cup history in a winning time of 1m 59.70 seconds.
Danon The Kid (Just A Way) stayed on willingly to fare best of the Japanese quintet in second with Money Catcher, Tourbillon Diamond (Olympic Glory) and Russian Emperor (Galileo) finishing third, fourth and fifth for Hong Kong. Geoglyph (Drefong) came home a creditable sixth but fellow Japanese raiders Jack d’Or (Maurice) and Panthalassa were well held in seventh and tenth.
Shum’s previous career highlight came when his crack sprinter Little Bridge (Faltaat) staged a daring hit-and-run raid on Royal Ascot’s King’s Stand Stakes (Gr 1, 5f) in 2012 but he is now looking forward to an assault on the Hong Kong history books that could involve a clash with California Spangle and Golden Sixty as part of an audacious Triple Crown bid.
“His owner Peter Lau said ‘Danny if we win this race we should target the Hong Kong Triple Crown over 1600 metres, 2000 metres and 2400 metres’,” he said.
That epic feat, which involves winning three more Group 1 prizes comprising the Stewards’ Cup (1600m), Hong Kong Gold Cup (2000m) and Champions & Chater Cup (2400m), has only been achieved once by River Verdon (Be My Native) back in 1994.
However, Romantic Warrior has already done what very few horses in Hong Kong history have ever done, winning nine of his ten races since making a winning debut at Happy Valley in October, 2021, and Shum is certain his unusually professional temperament is a key factor.
“His confidence keeps increasing but ever since I saw him at the International Sale, he has been so professional and calm in everything he does,” he added. “It has been an amazing effort by my team and I think this must be the most memorable day of my career.”