Romantic Warrior vanquished the field to claim a first victory in the HK$13 million G1 Stewards’ Cup (1600m), and launched his bid for the Triple Crown in scintillating style at Sha Tin on Sunday (25 January).

A 12th Group 1 success for Romantic Warrior began to look like a foregone conclusion as early as 400m out, as a stock-still in the saddle James McDonald eased up alongside early leader Lucky Sweynesse, with defending Stewards’ Cup champion Voyage Bubble three wide and treading water in his attempts to get after Danny Shum’s eight-year-old, and Mark Newnham’s My Wish stuck in traffic further back in the field.

After eye-balling Manfred Man’s galloper for 100m, James McDonald released the brakes and quickly sent Romantic Warrior clear. Lucky Sweynesse boxed on gamely to finish second on his debut over the mile course, but the Acclamation gelding continued to pull away, passing the post one-and three-quarter lengths clear of the field. Voyage Bubble was further back in third, with My Wish in a dead-heat for fourth – with Sunlight Power – after a torrid run in transit.

Regular partner McDonald long ago ran out of superlatives to describe “the horse of a lifetime”, but was thrilled to claim the Stewards’ Cup at the second attempt.

“His demeanor, his courage, his will to win, it’s just in spades,” McDonald said. “It’s incredible. I say it every time, but when he steps out, it’s a privilege to ride such a horse of his calibre.

“He began really well, and I thought it was going to be pretty smoothly run. But a few picked up, which was quite surprising, and he was always in a nice rhythm.

“Gate seven out of nine gave us that opportunity to not force our hand and wait until it settled down, and I knew Voyage Bubble was three deep, and I wasn’t going to give him a cart.”

“He’s been unlucky in the past, but bumped into a very good horse. But he’s a warrior,” he added.

Romantic Warrior, who last week was ranked seventh in the 2025 LONGINES World’s Best Racehorse Rankings, has now won 21 of his 28 starts. The Stewards’ Cup win took his record-extending prize money haul to a staggering HK$247.38 million. Earlier this season, he triumphed for an unprecedented fourth time in the HK$40 million G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Cup (2000m).

After campaigning overseas for much of the 2024/25 season, connections switched their focus to domestic domination in 2025/26, and the bid to match Voyage Bubble and River Verdon’s feats in becoming the only horses to sweep the Triple Crown is now underway.

The next assignment is back at Romantic Warrior’s favoured trip in the HK$13 million G1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup (2000m) on 1 March. The HK$13 million G1 Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup (2400m) completes the Triple Crown on 24 May.

“I’m so proud of Romantic Warrior,” said Shum, expressing his delight at the performance. “He can handle 1600 (metres), 2000, even 2400 – he can handle any distance.

“We all know 2000 is his best trip, so no problem there. I’ll just keep him happy, keep him healthy – it’s a very easy job for me.”

McDonald, who regularly jets into Hong Kong from Australia to ride Romantic Warrior, agreed it was a perfect way to launch the Triple Crown campaign.

“It’s a long way to go, but, yeah, the first one’s ticked off.”

Elsewhere in the card, David Hayes shared the day’s trainer honours with Francis Lui and moved to 30 wins for the season. In addition to Ka Ying Rising blitzing the field in the HK$13 million G1 Centenary Sprint Cup (1200m) under Zac Purton, Hayes combined with Hugh Bowman as Turin Champions (128lb) took the Class 4 Sound Print Handicap (1400m). He completed a treble when Positive Smile (130lb) claimed the Class 4 Waikuku Handicap (1400m) under Keith Yeung.

McDonald struck on impressive debutant Gold Patch (127lb) for Francis Lui in the card-opening Class 4 Peniaphobia Handicap (1000m). The three-year-old Ardrossan gelding got up when challenged late by Zac Purton on Sparkling Fellow (135lb).

Winning Wing (129lb) maintained his remarkable record under Dylan Mo with perhaps the best win of his four from 15 starts in the Class 2 Ambitious Dragon Handicap (2000m). The Lui-trainee was forced to dig deep in the final stretch to grab a resilient win over Richard Kingscote-ridden Prestige Good (122lb).

Lui’s treble was sealed when Invincible Shield (134lb) scraped home in the Class 2 Able Friend Handicap (1200m) ridden by Vincent Ho.

Purton was the leading jockey with three wins. Before the Centenary Sprint Cup triumph, he took the Class 4 Beat The Clock Handicap (1200m) on Ricky Yiu’s Lucky Eight (135lb), lifting over Gallant Design (127lb) in a narrow finish. He completed his trio of wins aboard Happy Index (126lb) in the Class 3 Aerovelocity Handicap (1200m) for Manfred Man.

Brett Crawford sealed a 13th win of the season and continued his successful link-up with Karis Teetan when Island Buddy (118lb) scored a battling first win in Hong Kong in the Class 4 Mr Vitality Handicap (1200m).

Casper Fownes closed the card with a victory in the Class 3 Beauty Generation Handicap (1600m), Flying Luck (120lb) securing a third Hong Kong win with Ellis Wong on board.

Hong Kong racing continues at Happy Valley on Wednesday (28 January).