ENGLISH VERSION really was a magnificent yearling.” Like all the yearlings bought around the world by the Hong Kong Jockey Club, Romantic Warrior then went back through the ring and was bought by Peter Lau for HK $ 4.8 million in 2021.
AN EXTRAORDINARY DESTINY Dubbed the“ world champion” of Hong Kong racing, Romantic Warrior won 24 of his 31 races, 15 of them at the highest level, setting the record for Group 1 wins in Hong Kong. Victories in Hong Kong, then, but also in Australia, Japan and the United Arab Emirates. He became only the third winner of the Hong Kong Triple Crown, after River Verdon in 1994 and Voyage Bubble in 2025. The final word? It goes to his faithful jockey, James McDonald, who steered Romantic Warrior to 14 of his 15 Group 1 victories:“ Romantic Warrior is my Winx, no doubt about it. He’ s the best horse I’ ve ever ridden. He was incredible, exceptional for what he achieved on the track. I rode him 20 times and won 17 races – but I should have won 19! I’ ll find him a home, near Sydney if possible, and make sure he gets the best care for the rest of his life.”
ROMANTIC WARRIOR’ S MAIN AWARDS IN HONG KONG:
- Horse of the Year( 2023 / 2024 and 2025 / 2026, joint with Ka Ying Rising)
- Champion Middle- Distance Horse( 2021 / 2022, 2022 / 2023, 2023 / 2024, 2024 / 2025 and 2025 / 2026)- Champion Miler( 2025 / 2026)- Champion Stayer( 2025 / 2026) HIS 15 GROUP 1 WINS:- FWD QEII Cup( 2022, 2023, 2024, 2026)- Citi Hong Kong Cup( 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)- Ladbrokes Cox Plate( 2023)- Yasuda Kinen( 2024)- Longines Hong Kong Gold Cup( 2024, 2026)- Jebel Hatta( 2025)- The Stewards’ Cup( 2026)- The Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup( 2026)
NH
BY JACOB PRITCHARD-WEBB
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Ahhh November, what ' s not to love. Christmas is only around the corner and national hunt racing in England, Ireland and of course France is in full swing. There is lots to look forward to like the 48 hour d’ obstacle, the Cheltenham November meeting and the down royal festival that see Willie Mullins usually send out a battalion of runners.
We must not forget what ' s already happened though.
The beginning of September saw the start of another Crystal Cup season debuting with Waregem once again. Having changed the course slightly by removing the large bank it may be less of a test but it still holds the biggest water jump of any racecourse anywhere so I could be being a bit harsh there. It was last year ' s second Placenet for David Cottin and owner Prof Caroline Tisdale who returned to try and go one better under Johnny Charron and after a disappointing season, Placenet didn’ t disappoint. Prominent throughout, Placenet jumped with his usual fluency and kept handy position which is vital at waregem and was able to quicken away to victory by cosy length and a half. From Waregem we went to Craon, a very different jumping test and over a kilometre longer in distance. This race is not for the faint hearted. Speaking of hearts, I ' m sure it warmed everyone to see Roi Mage at 14 years old return to try and win it again for the third time in a row. History doesn’ t always repeat itself and he made a very uncharacteristic mistake at an early fence and unseated James Reveley. Although it’ s something he won’ t want to remember for a while, the pictures are quite spectacular. Everyone was expecting Klitchko de belair to go out and win the race once Roi Mage was out but it was the small but mighty Sweet david showing his class and ability that went on to win. After a dominat-
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