Sealing his place among Hong Kong’s pantheon of equine immortals with triumph in the HK$13 million G1 Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup (2400m) at Sha Tin on Sunday (24 May) – and becoming only the third horse to clinch the Triple Crown – Romantic Warrior will be given a well-earned spell before trainer Danny Shum decides the champion’s racing future.

Speaking immediately after Romantic Warrior claimed a record-extending 15th Group 1 by a Hong Kong horse under James McDonald, joining River Verdon (1993/94) and Voyage Bubble (2024/25) as a Triple Crown winner, Shum said: “I’m such a lucky guy, lucky trainer – because I can train Romantic Warrior.

“Before the race we already set up the plan – put him to sleep, let him relax, and try to hit the front. He hit the line in the last 400m, so James has done a great job, he’s top-class jockey.”

Claiming a HK$10 million Triple Crown Bonus, Romantic Warrior boosted his world-record prizemoney earnings to HK$288.7 million for owner Peter Lau after the eight-year-old overcame Numbers by half a length with Deep Monster a further length-and-a-half away in third in 2m 26.67s – the same time Voyage Bubble recorded last season.

The Triple Crown comprises the HK$13 million G1 Stewards’ Cup (1600m), HK$13 million G1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup (2000m) and today’s Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup.

Settling fourth behind Numbers and Romantic Thor, Romantic Warrior worked into the race under the unflappable McDonald before the reigning LONGINES World’s Best Jockey stoked up the eight-year-old deep into the straight and overhauled Numbers at the 50m mark before edging clear.

Numbers fought tigerishly to hold off Deep Monster as Romantic Warrior rattled home in 22.77s, extending his winning range at Group 1 level from 1600m to 2400m.

Shum is considering sending the Hong Kong International Sale graduate to Conghua for the first time before identifying next season’s targets with the winner of 24 races from 31 starts.

“The plan is to give him a break. I will think about whether to send him to Conghua, same as Ka Ying Rising – Ka Ying Rising is very happy (there). So, I might send him to Conghua, give him a little break, and then see how he goes,” Shum said.

“We’re happy because we have a very good team and stable. Peter (Lau) always makes the right decisions and James McDonald is a very good jockey.”

McDonald said: “He’s a Triple Crown winner, he thoroughly deserved it. I read an article, the boss (Mr Winfried Englebrecht Bresges’s CEO blog) said he was already an immortal and I totally agree with him.

“He didn’t need to win this to be that. I think this is the cherry on top – he should be Horse of the Year this year and I think he stamped that by winning the Triple Crown.”

Zac Purton edged closer to the 2,000-win milestone with a treble, striking on David Hall-trained Flying Amani (135lb) in the Class 5 Standard Chartered Digital Assets Handicap (1600m), Jimmy Ting’s Come Fast Fay Fay (120lb) in the Class 4 Standard Chartered Sustainable Finance Handicap (1400m) and Shum’s Packing King (131lb) in the Standard Chartered Corporate & Investment Banking Handicap (1200m).

“It was alright. I was hoping to ride one or two today, so three was better than expected,” said Purton after notching his 1,998th Hong Kong win.

Shum’s double boosted his seasonal tally to 56 wins, leading Caspar Fownes (54), Mark Newnham (52), Francis Lui (50), David Hayes (49) and John Size (46) in the race for the trainers’ title.

Fownes remained firmly in contention for the Hong Kong trainers’ championship with Hong Kong International Sale graduate Monarch County’s (132lb) runaway win under Joao Moreira in the Class 4 Standard Chartered Priority Banking Handicap (1400m) while Hayes scored with three-year-old My Mars (128lb) in the Class 3 Standard Chartered Renminbi Business Handicap (1200m) under Brenton Avdulla.

Dylan Mo piloted Ricky Yiu’s Mighty Strength (113lb) in the Class 3 Standard Chartered Wealth Solutions Handicap (1800m) as Craig Williams combined with Cody Mo to land the Class 4 Standard Chartered Greater Bay Area Handicap (1200m) with Zousain three-year-old Conrad Patch (135lb) before Jamie Richards-trained Big Return (133lb) made it three wins in a row with victory in the Class 4 Standard Chartered Priority Private Handicap (1600m) under Alexis Badel.

Badel sealed a double when Douglas Whyte-trained Six Pack (128lb) swept home to land the Class 2 Standard Chartered Global Private Bank Handicap (1400m) before The Red Hare (125lb) closed the card impressively with victory for Frankie Lor and Matthew Poon in the Class 3 Standard Chartered SME Banking Handicap (1400m).

Hong Kong racing continues at Happy Valley on Wednesday night (27 May).

By Leo Schlink

Photo: HKJC