LONGINES Hong Kong International Races preview: The story of Mick Kinane and Romantic Warrior
We catch up with Mick Kinane who says he was "lucky" to have played such a major role in the story of leading LONGINES Hong Kong Cup contender Romantic Warrior.
Kinane in Romantic mood as Warrior goes up for the Cup
Michael Kinane was new into his role as equine talent spotter for the HKJC when he arrived at the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale in 2019 and set about securing a son of Acclamation out of a mare from a strong Godolphin family.
There was an element of disguise familiar to any Sales regular – Kinane left the ring while his daughter Aisling carried out the business clad in hat and earphones – but the hammer came down at 300,000gns and the attractive youngster now known as Romantic Warrior will line up as Hong Kong’s brightest young star and best hope of loosening Japan’s grip on Sunday’s LONGINES Hong Kong Cup.
“I knew Angus Gold of Shadwell would be my biggest competitor and I also knew if I stood in the ring and Angus got the late Sheikh Hamdan on the phone then I would lose,” he says.
Romantic Warrior was sold again for HK$4.8m (a little over £500,000) at the Hong Kong International Sale in June of 2021 and his progress under trainer Danny Shum has been remarkable, with eight wins from nine starts including a thrilling BMW Hong Kong Derby success and a total career earnings of £4.5m with the prospect of much more to come.
“I was lucky to buy him but I loved him straight away – he’s the first horse I’ve ever sent to the vet for checking on one view – and he’s gone from strength to strength.
Japanese raiders Panthalassa and Jack D’Or promise to make Sunday’s £3.6m Cup a fiery affair but Kinane believes Romantic Warrior and Kiwi ace James McDonald will be up to the task.
“You would hope Panthalassa loose like they did in Tokyo last time – they won’t peg him back here is they do – but I’m sure the other jocks will be aware of it and strongly-run race would suit everybody.
“All jockeys are adrenaline junkies and there’s no better feeling than riding a great horse on a good day but these lads are here because they’re the best. Romantic Warrior is very sound with a great racing brain and what he’s done over the last year or so is beyond anyone’s wildest dreams.”
HK raids marked by Precision timing
Kinane’s hit-and-run raids on Sha Tin’s big races became the stuff of legend in the early 1990s and his HKIR high days included the first running of the Mile (then known as the Invitation Bowl) aboard Dermot Weld’s Additional Risk in 1991 and a memorable win on Luso, who was odds on when landing a second consecutive Vase for Clive Brittain in 1997.
But it seems particularly apt that Sunday marks the 20th anniversary of the Irishman’s sole success in the biggest race in the HK calendar.
Locally-trained longshot Precision went off at 64-1 in a field dominated by Grandera that day but the mercurial Godolphin star failed to fire as Kinane coaxed the mercurial grey through to lead right on the line for English handler David Oughton.
“That was a great day and it’s a nice anniversary to remember with what’s coming up on Sunday,” says the Irishman.
“Precision was a bit of a lairy lad and he wasn’t in front a stride before a yard before or after the line,” he adds. “Some of my greatest memories are of the big days here and it’s great to be back with an involvement in a different way this time around.”
Gibson’s glass is overflowing as Wellington preps for a capital performance
Spend enough time around the HK scene and you get to know which trainers adopt a glass half full mentality and those who tend to be more measured in assessing their chances.
HK’s sole English handler Richard Gibson generally falls into the latter camp so his confidence in Wellington’s ability to banish memories of a setback in Sunday’s LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint seems highly significant.
Wellington is a world-class sprinter by any standards and dominated HK’s 1200m division last season but he followed a dominant handicap performance on his return by finishing lame when only sixth in the Jockey Club Sprint last month.
However, Gibson is confident that his powerful six-year-old is ready to give Ryan Moore all he has on Sunday and that could spell trouble for last year’s winner Sky Field, the up-and-coming Lucky Sweynesse and a four-strong Japanese challenge.
“Wellington is the best sprinter in HK and competing on better weight terms with,” says. Gibson. “I don’t believe the sprinters from Japan are a big threat. Wellington is back at the top of his game and I don’t mind what gate (10) he gets.”
Euro vision needed if Europe is to crack the HK code again
Gibson keeps in close touch with the UK scene via the Nick Lucky Daily (other podcasts are available) and is as baffled as this observer over the absence of top-class European HKIR runners this week.
“My first reaction is disappointment,” he says. “Everybody is moaning about prize money in Europe but these guys here are putting up 14 million bucks. There are more and more international races – and the Breeders’ Cup seems to attract more and more foreign runners – and we’ve now got the Bahrain and Saudi and Dubai options.
“But I remember HKIR of fifteen years ago. Jeepers, Europe would be producing a squad of horses with top chances in every race and I really think they are missing out.
“Some of these races are winnable – the Japanese have shown that year in and year out – and I think the European horsemen need to have a rethink on their planning because there’s big money here.
“We came here from France with a fresh horse when Doctor Dino won the Vase twice. Luca Cumani was brilliant at finding the right international races and there should be more like him out there in Europe looking at these big pots.”
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