Romantic Warrior completes Hong Kong Triple Crown

Romantic Warrior swept Hong Kong's Triple Crown with victory in the HK$13 million Group 1 Champions & Chater Cup (2400m) at Sha Tin on Sunday, becoming the third horse to complete the feat and pushing his world-record prizemoney earnings to HK$288.7 million.

Trainer Danny Shum will give the eight-year-old a well-earned spell before deciding the champion's racing future.

Romantic Warrior's victory under James McDonald marked a record-extending 15th Group 1 by a Hong Kong horse, joining River Verdon (1993/94) and Voyage Bubble (2024/25) as Triple Crown winners.

"I'm such a lucky guy, lucky trainer – because I can train Romantic Warrior," Shum said. "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."

The HK$10 million Triple Crown bonus accounted for the bulk of Sunday's earnings for owner Peter Lau, with Romantic Warrior overcoming Numbers by half a length and Deep Monster a further length-and-a-half back in third in 2:26.67 – matching the time Voyage Bubble recorded last season.

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

Numbers fought to hold off Deep Monster as Romantic Warrior rattled home in 22.77 seconds, 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 Digital Assets Handicap (1600m), Jimmy Ting's Come Fast Fay Fay (120lb) in the Class 4 Sustainable Finance Handicap (1400m) and Shum's Packing King (131lb) in the Corporate & Investment Banking Handicap (1200m).

"It was alright. I was hoping to ride one or two today, so three was better than expected," Purton said 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 Priority Banking Handicap (1400m). Hayes scored with three-year-old My Mars (128lb) in the Class 3 Renminbi Business Handicap (1200m) under Brenton Avdulla.

Dylan Mo piloted Ricky Yiu's Mighty Strength (113lb) in the Class 3 Wealth Solutions Handicap (1800m), and Craig Williams combined with Cody Mo to land the Class 4 Greater Bay Area Handicap (1200m) with Zousain three-year-old Conrad Patch (135lb). Jamie Richards-trained Big Return (133lb) made it three wins in a row with victory in the Class 4 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 Global Private Bank Handicap (1400m). The Red Hare (125lb) closed the card with victory for Frankie Lor and Matthew Poon in the Class 3 SME Banking Handicap (1400m).

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