Romantic Warrior will bid for a fifth Group 1 victory this season following trainer Danny Shum’s confirmation the Hong Kong champion will contest the G1 Yasuda Kinen (1600m) at Tokyo Racecourse on 2 June, when he will clash with fellow Hong Kong contender Voyage Bubble.
Shum made the decision to travel abroad for the second time this season with seven-time Group 1 winner Romantic Warrior after discussions with owner Peter Lau.
“He will go to Japan,” Shum said. “He will leave around the 21st of May.” Referring to the 133-rater’s recovery from his narrow, record-breaking G1 FWD QEII Cup (2000m) triumph on 28 April, Shum said: “He should be okay – he can be better.”
Romantic Warrior will be accompanied to Japan by Romantic Charm, who also travelled to Australia last year when his decorated stablemate clinched Hong Kong’s first victory in the G1 W.S. Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley Racecourse on 28 October.
With subsequent wins in the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Cup (2000m), G1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup (2000m) and FWD QEII Cup, Romantic Warrior will next attempt to match the feats of Ivan Allan-trained Fairy King Prawn (2000) and Tony Cruz’s Bullish Luck (2006) in landing the Yasuda Kinen.
Shum’s most recent representative in Japan was sprinter Victor The Winner, who finished third in the G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen (1200m) at Chukyo Racecourse on 24 March.
With 14 wins and three seconds from 19 starts, Romantic Warrior has raced only twice at 1600m, winning the Hong Kong Classic Mile in 2022 before finishing second, beaten a length, by Golden Sixty in the 2023 G1 Stewards’ Cup.
With Zac Purton booked to ride Voyage Bubble, James McDonald is expected to again partner Romantic Warrior in the Yasuda Kinen.