They came, they saw and they were well and truly conquered in the Sha Tin sunshine Sunday as Romantic Warrior confirmed himself among the world's elite with a commanding second consecutive success in the FWD QEII Cup (G1).
Pandemic restrictions meant trainer Danny Shum's gelding beat a purely domestic field when landing the race in 2022 and the 5-year-old Irish-bred Acclamation gelding faced a sterner test against two Group 1 winners from Japan and globetrotting British raider Dubai Honour, fresh from capturing two of Australia's elite 2,000-meter (about 1 1/4-mile) contests.
However, the market spoke volumes about the confidence behind Romantic Warrior and the favorite delivered in spades, charging into the lead with 400 meters to run and easing down close to home as New Zealand-based rider James McDonald stood up in the stirrups to salute an adoring crowd.
“How good are the Hong Kong horses, they're flying today,” said a beaming McDonald, who is now unbeaten in three rides on Romantic Warrior after partnering him to similarly emphatic victories in the Jockey Club Cup (G2) and Longines Hong Kong Cup (G1) last November and December.
“He's a world-class horse and put in a performance just like he did in December,” McDonald said. “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 2,000-meter horse and I really enjoy riding him.”
A slow pace set by Money Catcher led to a final time of 2:01.92, but acceleration is what separates the great from the good and Romantic Warrior's closing 400 meters of :22.53 was faster than Golden Sixty's final 400 meters in the Champions Mile G1)) and only :0.27 slower than Lucky Sweynesse's final 400 meters in the Chairman's Sprint Prize.
That final burst was all too much for Prognosis, who stayed on well to finish two lengths adrift of the winner in second, while Dubai Honour and Money Catcher were just behind in third and fourth.
Romantic Warrior's latest victory – following on from a thrilling success in last year's BMW Hong Kong Derby and his runaway defeat of elite global performers in the Hong Kong Cup (G1)– took his career record to 10 wins from 13 starts.
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