Romantic Warrior dazzles with return success in Jockey Club Cup
Romantic Warrior (Acclamation) made a triumphant return to racing at Sha Tin on Sunday when he sauntered to an emphatic victory in the Jockey Club Cup (Gr 2, 2000m) for James McDonald and Danny Shum.
Resuming after 232 days between races after surgery to his left fore fetlock, Romantic Warrior lifted his world record earnings to HK$217.7 million (approx. AU$43.45m) as the Hong Kong International Sale graduate became the first horse to win a third Jockey Club Cup after victories in 2022 and 2024.
“He’s so special. It takes the words out of my mouth to be fair, it’s an absolute privilege to ride him and every time he goes around there’s a huge smile on the face. He’s really touching, that horse,” McDonald said.
“Him [Shum] and his team just gloat over him, he’s a special horse – one of a kind. His training performance is incredible. To have him looking how he did, feeling how he did and performing how he did was a real testament to his training ability.”
Stepping smoothly from barrier two as 1.4 favourite, Romantic Warrior settled fourth behind leading duo Voyage Bubble (Deep Field) and Sword Point (American Pharoah), while Straight Arron (Fastnet Rock) sat third. Turning for home, McDonald popped his mount the question, circling wide, before letting loose in the straight with an unmatched burst of speed.
The gelding’s winning time was 2m 03.72s, while the official margin was an eased down one and a half lengths ahead of Voyage Bubble, who held second, while Ka Ying Generation (Churchill) rolled into third place.
Shum said: “I’d like to take this opportunity to thank my team, especially my stable assistant and his home rider. They put a lot of effort into him and, of course, my stable vet Lawrence Chan – he’s also helped him a lot.
“Before the race I talked to James and we all understood that the pace would be slow, and then we said the most important thing is to relax the horse. He had a good turn of foot, we were not worried about the pace being slow.”
Romantic Warrior will next target a record-extending fourth consecutive Hong Kong Cup (Gr 1, 2000m) success at the Hong Kong International Races on December 14.
“It’s not easy to take a horse 232 days back to a Group 2 over 2000 [metres]. He’s a superstar, he’s got talent and is smart,” Shum said. “He didn’t look seven years old, even when he turns eight, he will think he’s still a baby.
“I will just keep him happy; he’s fit at the moment. If you really want me to put a figure on it, I will say he was 85 per cent. After this race, he will put on another 10 or 12 pounds.
“I’d like to thank Hugh Bowman, of course, he trials the horse a lot and teaches the horse to relax. He also helps the team and the stable a lot.”