ROMANTIC WARRIOR MAKES HISTORY

Ka Ying Rising, Voyage Bubble, Giavellotto celebrate Group 1 victories in Hong Kong

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HONG KONG - In the end, history was achieved in the most impressive way imaginable.

Romantic Warrior became the first horse to win the HK$40 million ($6.9 million) Group 1 Longines Hong Kong Cup (2,000m) three times in a manner befitting his status as his homeland's preeminent equine ambassador on Dec 8.

So easily did the six-year-old defy an array of international competition, that jockey James McDonald was able to stand up and salute the packed Sha Tin grandstands as he passed the line 1½-lengths clear of Japan's Liberty Island (Yuga Kawada).

The heavy favourite ($5.30 on the Singapore tote) jumped slickly from the gates and McDonald was able to allow him to settle into fourth place as Irish filly Wingspan (Wayne Lordan) set the pace.

Another Japanese challenger, Tastiera (Damian Lane), had tracked in second and really provided the only competition to Romantic Warrior as they turned for home in a race very few got into.

Liberty Island edged past her compatriot in the closing stages but the winner had already wrapped up the contest.

"That was unbelievable, I'm so proud of this horse," said McDonald, who has ridden Romantic Warrior to seven successive wins.

"He's just been remarkable and it's some effort by trainer Danny Shum and his team.

"He's been flying and anyone could ride him because he's that easy but I'm the lucky one. He's the horse of a lifetime."

Romantic Warrior has already flown the flag for Hong Kong in several other countries, winning the Group 1 Cox Plate (2,000m) in Australia in October 2023. Shum and his team then took the brave decision to head to Japan this June, where he won the Group 1 Yasuda Kinen (1,600m) in Tokyo.

This latest achievement in an unbeaten streak lasting longer than a year sees him move past another Hong Kong great, Golden Sixty, as the biggest money-earner in racing history.