Romantic Warrior will bid to quickly follow in the footsteps of Voyage Bubble as he bids to land the Hong Kong Triple Crown over the next couple of months.
The Ricky Yui-trained Voyage Bubble became the first horse since River Verdon in 1994 to achieve the feat when adding victory in the Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup to his earlier successes in the Stewards' Cup in January and the Hong Kong Gold Cup the following month.
Romantic Warrior – who is also ridden by Australian jockey James McDonald – secured the first leg of the sequence when adding a remarkable 21st career success at Sha Tin on Sunday and his trainer Danny Shum, speaking on the Nick Luck Daily Podcast, explained that the Triple Crown is the main focus of this campaign for the now-12-time Group 1 winner.
“I’m so proud of him and I want to thank the stable team, jockey James [McDonald] and the owner Peter Lau who made the decision to stay in Hong Kong this season,” said Shum.
“He had an injury so that played a part [in the decision] and we’ve been able to keep him safe and happy here in Hong Kong.
“It’s not easy to win [the Triple Crown], but we hope he can do it.”
Romantic Warrior... you are INCREDIBLE! 🤯
— HKJC Racing (@HKJC_Racing) January 25, 2026
Our global champion wins his 12th Group 1, securing the Stewards' Cup with ease at Sha Tin to kick off his #TripleCrown chase in perfect style for @mcacajamez and Danny Shum... @WorldPool | #LoveRacing | #HKracing pic.twitter.com/tP5a3PaTAy
The eight-year-old took his earnings past the £25 million mark with his win in the Stewards' Cup, and, though retirement may be more in the forefront of connections’ mind than previously, it doesn’t appear to be on the immediate horizon.
Shum detailed: “We plan to run him in-between as well in April, so he will have a few more races.
“It all depends on the horse. When it’s time for him to retire then he will be well-looked-after for the rest of his life.”
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