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Romantic Warrior
Romantic Warrior is a thoroughbred race horse in Hong Kong. After its arrival in Hong Kong in June 2021, it scored a five winning streak, including a championship of the Hong Kong Classic Mile. it is currently owned by Mr. Lau Pak Fai and trained by Mr. Danny Shum Chap Shing. It was the Champion Middle-Distance Horse, the Champion Four-Year Old and the Most Improve Horse in year 2022. As the two-time champion of the FWD Queen Elizabeth II Cup, Romantic Warrior continued to show its capabilities by winning the Longines Hong Kong Cup. In October 2023, It went on its first overseas race in Australia, becoming the first Hong Kong champion of the W. S. Cox Plate in Australian horse-racing history.

2021: Coming to Hong Kong
Foaled in Ireland in 2018, the son of Acclamation was sourced by the former top jockey Michael Kinane and sold at the Hong Kong International Sale in 2021 to Mr. Peter Lau Pak Fai for $4.8M HKD ($814,236 AUD). Romantic Warrior was then sent to the Manton Estate in Wiltshire, England for further training before coming to Hong Kong as a race horse.

On 20 October 2021, it made its debut at the Happy Valley Racecourse in a Group IV 1200m race ridden by Joao Moreira. It won first place and since then, it won another four races in both Happy Valley and Sha Tin.

2022: Reaching Four Years Old
Reaching four years of age, it challenged the four-year-old races under a new jockey, Karis Teetan. Its winning streak was terminated in the Hong Kong Classic Cup by California Spangle.

Danny Shum, the trainer of Romantic Warrior after the race remarked that it still had great potential to win the BMW Hong Kong Derby. "I felt confident for the Derby because he is an easy ride and he didn’t fight during the race. A strong pace is easy, a slow pace he can go a little bit forward and the distance of 2,000m, especially against the four-year-olds, he can handle no problem."Romantic Warrior's triumph in the Derby was also Shum's first success in the race. But it would continue to win more Group I races in 2022, such as the Queen Elizabeth II Cup in April 2022 and the Longines Hong Kong Cup in December 2022.

2023: Group I Champion and Overseas Expedition
Since the start of 2023, the Romantic Warrior team became more focused on joining Group I races as the 2nd best racehorse in the world according to Longines' World's Best Racehorse Rankings, with a rating of 123. It challenged the three-times Hong Kong Horse of the Year Golden Sixty respectively in the Steward's Cup and the Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup but narrowly lost to the title holder in both occasions.

In April 2023, having won the race in the previous year, Romantic Warrior raced in the Queen Elizabeth Cup for the second time. Against overseas challengers such as Prognosis, Danon the Kid and Geraldina from Japan, and Dubai Honour, Romantic Warrior finished the 2000-meter race with first place at 2:01:92. McDonald viewed his steed very positively, stating,

"He’s a world-class horse and put in a performance just like he did in December. There wasn’t one part of the race where I thought he wasn’t right – he was always going to explode for me – and the race panned out beautifully. He’s a world-class horse. It took an absolute weapon (Golden Sixty) to run him down last time but he’s a great 2000m horse and I really enjoy riding him."After the race which became Romantic Warriors' 10th win, Shum was interested in taking the steed overseas to prestigious competitions. The first one he had in mind was the Tenno Sho (Autumn) in Japan. His ex-boss Ivan Allan won the Yasuda Kinen with Fairy King Prawn and he wished to emulate the success.

Despite success in previous matches, Romantic Warrior under Zac Purton in the Chater Cup lost to Russian Emperor, returning to Hong Kong after an expedition to Qatar. After more than a month's worth of hiatus, Shum, in early July, confirmed that Romantic Warrior would not be going to Japan. Instead, it would prepare to run in Australia, with the Cox Plate in October being the biggest target.

The Path to Cox Plate Champion
With a two-month hiatus following the end of the 2022/23 racing season, the Romantic Warrior team was fully prepared for the steed's first overseas expedition as it safely arrived at Australia in Mid-September. In Australia, Romantic Warrior would have 2 assignments. The first was participating in the Group I Turnbull Stakes at Flemington, and the second would be the ultimate objective, the W. S. Cox Plate at Moonee Valley.

During the Turnbull Stakes on 7 October 2023, racing against other steeds in the 2000m race, Romantic Warrior finished the race 4th place despite being the most favoured race horse, with Gold Trip being the winner. His performance was not lacklustre since he needed time to adjust to the Australian turf. After the race, the trainer, Shum was "not happy but not disappointed." Shum's biggest goal was always on the Cox Plate and the Turnbull Stakes was just a lead-up race to see how the left-turn and the Melbourne surface could be managed. McDonald also believed that the horse would be brought to the most suitable condition for the Cox Plate.

On 28th October 2023, on a sunny Saturday at Moonee Valley, the most important race for Romantic Warrior began. Started from the 7th barrier, he had smooth start and managed to stay in the 4th place just behind the leaders. He stably remained in that position until the final curve when he galloped and beat Mr Brightside and Alligator in a driving finish. Mr Brightside lost by a nose and Romantic Warrior was declared the champion of the Cox Plate, making him the first winner from Hong Kong. Moreover, it was McDonald's second win in the race.

"'This means so much. I can't believe it, I thought I got beat [...] It means so much. I had so much to do with him. I've been singing his praises about how much he's improved and I needed to get a good run. I felt I gave him the best possible run I could and we won the Cox Plate baby!'"

The Cox Plate Champion: Victor of Hong Kong Cup
Hong Kong's victory in Australia was a great inspiration to many citizens in the city. In December, Romantic Warrior would race in the Hong Kong International Races on 12 December, particularly, in the clock-wise Group I 2000m-long Hong Kong Cup. As expected, the race invited rivals from other countries to compete with the local competitors. Some of the renowned horses included Luxembourg from Ireland and Prognosis from Japan.

With a smooth start, McDonald closely followed the leading horses and stably positioned himself at the 4th place behind Nimble Nimbus, Champion Dragon, and Sword Point, who was in the lead. Meanwhile, Luxembourg positioned itself behind the centre. After the last curve, McDonald galloped 400m before the goal. The finale was a showdown between Romantic Warrior, Luxembourg, Nimble Nimbus and Prognosis. Despite Luxembourg's final struggle to surpass Romantic Warrior in the final 50 meters, the latter still emerged victorious, winning by a nose.

The Hong Kong Cup was Romantic Warrior's another victory after winning the Cox Plate. As told by McDonald, it might have been the toughest racehorse he has ever sat on. “He’s got a heart as big as a lion. His courage, his will to win is something I’ve never felt before. I’ve ridden some fantastic racehorses – unbelievable ones – and he’s right up there." The success in the HK$36 million (~US$ 4.6 million) Hong Kong Cup catapulted Romantic Warrior's earning to above HK$ 100 million and marked his 12th win.