Romantic Warrior (horse)

Romantic Warrior (Chinese: 浪漫勇士, foaled March 18, 2018) is a multiple Group 1 winning champion thoroughbred racehorse that was born in Ireland and trained in Hong Kong. After he arrived in Hong Kong in June 2021, he scored a five-race winning streak, including a championship of the Hong Kong Classic Mile. He is currently owned by Lau Pak Fai and trained by Danny Shum Chap Shing.

In 2022, he was named the Champion Middle-Distance Horse, the Champion Four-Year-Old and the Most Improved Horse. He is notable for winning the Cox Plate in 2023 and the Hong Kong Cup in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. He also won the Yasuda Kinen in 2024, being the first foreign-trained horse in 18 years to win at Tokyo Racecourse since Bullish Luck in 2006, also in the same race.

Romantic Warrior is the only racehorse to win four Hong Kong Cups.

Racing career

Notable performances by Romantic Warrior include:

• 1st 2022 Queen Elizabeth II Cup (2000m, Sha Tin) beating Tourbillon Diamond and Panfield
• 1st 2022 Hong Kong Cup (2000m, Sha Tin) beating Danon The Kid and Money Catcher
• 1st 2023 Queen Elizabeth II Cup (2000m, Sha Tin) beating Prognosis and Dubai Honour
• 1st 2023 Cox Plate (2040m WFA, The Valley) beating Mr Brightside and Alligator Blood
• 1st 2023 Hong Kong Cup (2000m, Sha Tin) beating Luxembourg and Hishi Iguazu
• 1st 2024 Hong Kong Gold Cup (2000m, Sha Tin) beating Voyage Bubble and Nimble Nimbus
• 1st 2024 Queen Elizabeth II Cup (2000m, Sha Tin) beating Prognosis and North Bridge
• 1st 2024 Yasuda Kinen (1600m, Tokyo) beating Namur and Soul Rush
• 1st 2024 Hong Kong Cup (2000m, Sha Tin) beating Liberty Island and Tastiera
• 1st 2025 Jebel Hatta (1800m, Meydan) beating Poker Face and Holloway Boy
• 1st 2025 Hong Kong Cup (2000m, Sha Tin) beating Bellagio Opera and Quisisana
• 1st 2026 Stewards' Cup (1600m, Sha Tin) beating Lucky Sweynesse and Voyage Bubble

2021: Coming to Hong Kong

Foaled in Ireland in 2018, the son of Acclamation was sourced by the former top jockey Michael Kinane and sold at the Hong Kong International Sale in 2021 to Peter Lau Pak Fai for HKD 4.8M (AUD 814,236). Romantic Warrior was then sent to the Manton Estate in Wiltshire, England for further training before coming to Hong Kong as a racehorse.

On 20 October 2021, he made his debut at the Happy Valley Racecourse winning a Group IV 1200m race ridden by Joao Moreira. He then won another four races at Happy Valley and Sha Tin.

2022: Reaching Four Years Old

Reaching four years of age in second half of his first season, Romantic Warrior was now old enough to participate in the Hong Kong Four-Year-Old Classic Series the premiere domestic races during Sha Tin's racing season, under a new jockey, Karis Teetan. His first stop was The Kong Classic Mile where he went off as third choice behind Packing Victory and California Spangle. He won by half a length to extend his winning streak to five but the sequence was terminated in the next race in the series the Hong Kong Classic Cup by California Spangle.

Danny Shum, the trainer of Romantic Warrior after the race remarked that he still had great potential to win the BMW Hong Kong Derby.

I felt confident for the Derby because he is an easy ride and he didn’t fight during the race. A strong pace is easy, a slow pace he can go a little bit forward and the distance of 2,000m, especially against the four-year-olds, he can handle no problem.

Romantic Warrior and California Spangle dueled for a third time in the Derby with Romantic Warrior prevailing to by a head to win the first and last jewel of the series. His triumph in the Derby was also Shum's first success in the race. But he would continue to win more Group I races in 2022, such as the Queen Elizabeth II Cup in April 2022 to conclude his first full season of racing. And at the end of 2022 his first win in the Longines Hong Kong Cup that December.

2023: Group I Champion and Overseas Expedition

Since the start of 2023, the Romantic Warrior team became more focused on joining Group I races as the 2nd best racehorse in the world according to Longines' World's Best Racehorse Rankings, with a rating of 123. he challenged the three-time Hong Kong Horse of the Year Golden Sixty respectively in the Steward's Cup and the Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup but narrowly lost to the title holder in both occasions.

In April 2023, having won the race in the previous year, Romantic Warrior raced in the Queen Elizabeth Cup for the second time. Against overseas challengers such as Prognosis, Danon the Kid, Geraldina from Japan, and Dubai Honour, Romantic Warrior finished the 2000-meter race with first place at 2:01:92. McDonald viewed his steed very positively.

He’s a world-class horse and put in a performance just like he did in December. There wasn’t one part of the race where I thought he wasn’t right – he was always going to explode for me – and the race panned out beautifully. He’s a world-class horse. It took an absolute weapon (Golden Sixty) to run him down last time but he’s a great 2000m horse and I really enjoy riding him.

After the race, which became Romantic Warriors' 10th win, Shum was interested in taking the steed overseas to prestigious competitions. The first one he had in mind was the Tenno Sho (Autumn) in Japan. His ex-boss Ivan Allan won the Yasuda Kinen with Fairy King Prawn and he wished to emulate the success.

Despite success in previous matches, Romantic Warrior under Zac Purton in the Chater Cup lost to the Russian Emperor, returning to Hong Kong after an expedition to Qatar. After more than a month's worth of hiatus, Shum confirmed in early July, that Romantic Warrior would not be going to Japan. Instead, it would prepare to run in Australia, with the Cox Plate in October being the biggest target.

The Path to Cox Plate Champion

With a two-month hiatus following the end of the 2022/23 racing season, the Romantic Warrior team was fully prepared for the steed's first overseas expedition as it safely arrived in Australia in mid-September. There, Romantic Warrior would have 2 assignments. The first was participating in the Group I Turnbull Stakes at Flemington, and the second would be the ultimate objective, the W. S. Cox Plate at Moonee Valley.

Romantic Warrior finished 4th behind Gold Trip in the Turnbull Stakes on 7 October 2023 over 2000m, despite being the favorite. After the race, the trainer, Shum was "not happy but not disappointed." Shum's biggest goal was always on the Cox Plate and the Turnbull Stakes was just a lead-up race to see how the left-turn and the Melbourne surface could be managed. McDonald also believed that the horse would be brought to the most suitable condition for the Cox Plate.

The Cox Plate was run on 28 October 2023, on a sunny Saturday at Moonee Valley. Romantic Warrior starting from the 7th barrier had a smooth start and managed to stay in the 4th place just behind the leaders. He stably remained in that position until the final curve when he galloped and beat Mr Brightside by a nose with Alligator Blood third. Romantic Warrior was declared the champion of the Cox Plate, making him the first winner from Hong Kong. It was James McDonald's second win in the race, having won the previous year with Anamoe.

"This means so much. I can't believe it, I thought I got beat [...] It means so much. I had so much to do with him. I've been singing his praises about how much he's improved and I needed to get a good run. I felt I gave him the best possible run I could and we won the Cox Plate baby!"

The Cox Plate Champion: Victor of the Hong Kong Cup

Hong Kong's victory in Australia was a great inspiration to many citizens in the city. In December, Romantic Warrior would race in the Hong Kong International Races on 12 December, particularly, in the clock-wise Group I 2000m-long Hong Kong Cup. As expected, the race invited rivals from other countries to compete with the local competitors. Some of the renowned horses included Luxembourg from Ireland and Prognosis from Japan.

With a smooth start, McDonald closely followed the leading horses and stably positioned himself in 4th place behind Nimble Nimbus, Champion Dragon, and Sword Point, who was in the lead. Meanwhile, Luxembourg positioned itself behind the center. After the last curve, McDonald galloped 400m before the goal. The finale was a showdown between Romantic Warrior, Luxembourg, Nimble Nimbus, and Prognosis. Despite Luxembourg's final struggle to surpass the Romantic Warrior in the final 50 meters, the latter still emerged victorious, winning by a nose.

The Hong Kong Cup was Romantic Warrior's other victory after winning the Cox Plate. As told by McDonald, it might have been the toughest racehorse he has ever sat on. “He’s got a heart as big as a lion. His courage, his will to win is something I’ve never felt before. I’ve ridden some fantastic racehorses – unbelievable ones – and he’s right up there." The success in the HK$36 million (~US$ 4.6 million) Hong Kong Cup catapulted Romantic Warrior's earnings to above HK$ 100 million and marked his 12th win.

Racing statistics

• R in the chart and the time written in red indicates the horse finished in record time.

Pedigree