Romantic Warrior officially entered immortality by capturing Hong Kong’s Triple Crown
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The Danny Shum phenomenon captured his 15th Group 1 victory and became only the third horse in history to complete the legendary series at Sha Tin
SHA TIN, Hong Kong (Special to Turf Diario).- There are no more doubts left: Romantic Warrior now unquestionably belongs among the immortals of Hong Kong racing history.
The extraordinary Danny Shum trainee added another monumental chapter to his legend this Sunday when capturing the Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup (G1) at Sha Tin Racecourse, a result that completed the local Triple Crown and made him only the third horse ever to accomplish such a feat.
After River Verdon (Be My Native) in 1993/94 and Voyage Bubble (Deep Field) last season, it was now Romantic Warrior’s turn to secure immortality.
And he did it the way all great champions do: fighting for it.
Under another impeccable ride from James McDonald, the superstar settled in fourth while Numbers (Tivaci) and stablemate Romantic Thor (Justify) dictated the pace up front.
Always relaxed, always traveling beautifully, the son of Acclamation gradually improved entering the stretch as McDonald calmly brought him into contention.
The finish became yet another display of greatness.
Producing a blistering final 400 meters in :22.77, Romantic Warrior surged past Numbers inside the final 50 meters before edging clear by half a length, while Deep Monster (Deep Impact) completed the trifecta another length and a half behind.
The final time for the 2400 meters was 2:26.67, exactly matching the mark recorded by Voyage Bubble in the previous edition.
The victory also represented Romantic Warrior’s 15th Group 1 triumph, extending even further the all-time record for a Hong Kong-trained horse while elevating his earnings to a simply staggering HK$288.7 million.
And perhaps the most remarkable statistic of all is this: he has now won Group 1 races from one mile to one mile and a half, confirming a versatility rarely seen in modern international racing.
“I’m a very lucky man to be able to train Romantic Warrior,” admitted Shum afterward, still emotional following the race.
The trainer also revealed that the horse will now head for a break and that he is even considering sending him for the first time to the Conghua Training Center, following the successful path recently taken by Ka Ying Rising (Shamexpress).
“We’ll give him a break and then see what we do next season,” Shum explained. “Peter Lau always makes the right decisions, and James McDonald is an extraordinary jockey.”
McDonald, meanwhile, was even more emphatic regarding the horse’s place in history.
“He’s a Triple Crown winner and fully deserved it,” he said. “I read recently that he was already immortal before this race, and I completely agree.”
The New Zealand rider even suggested this performance should secure Horse of the Year honors.
“He didn’t need to win this to become a legend. This is just the cherry on top.”
The day also provided another important milestone for Zac Purton, who rode three winners and now sits only two victories away from reaching 2,000 career wins in Hong Kong.
Purton celebrated aboard Flying Amani (Wrote), Come Fast Fay Fay (Wrote), and Packing King (Darci Brahma), moving ever closer to another massive milestone within Asian racing.
But the day belonged to only one horse.
Because every so often, a horse emerges capable of transcending statistics, prize money, and generations.
And Romantic Warrior stopped being merely a champion quite some time ago.
Now, he has become an eternal part of Hong Kong’s sporting history.
