Ricky Yiu

It isn't that they weren't expected to perform--each was sent away at 1-10 favouritism--but reigning Hong Kong Horse of the Year Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) and new sprint sensation Ka Ying Rising (NZ) (Shamexpress {NZ}) gave the Sha Tin faithful and a broader audience worldwide exactly what they wanted at Sunday's Longines Hong Kong International Races meeting. Romantic Warrior, purchased by Mick Kinane for 300,000gns at the 2019 Tattersalls October Sale as a prospect for the Hong Kong Jockey Club's Hong Kong International Sale, took out the G1 Longines...

Reigning Hong Kong Horse of the Year Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) and emerging sprint star Ka Ying Rising (NZ) (Shamexpress {NZ}) laid down their markers for the Longines Hong Kong International Races meeting in three weeks' time with arrogant victories in Sunday's G2 BOCHK Jockey Club Cup and G2 BOCHK Private Banking Jockey Club Sprint at Sha Tin Racecourse, respectively. The second-named saw the 1200-metre course record, held for the last 17 years by the outstanding Sacred Kingdom (Aus) (Encosta de Lago {Aus}), come tumbling down in a sublime...

Peter Lau's Hong Kong raider Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) can put the wraps on one of the most remarkable seasons in recent memory should he be able to take out Sunday's G1 Yasuda Kinen Sunday afternoon at Tokyo Racecourse. The one-turn, 1600-metre contest serves as a 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Mile at California's Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in early November. Nails-tough in dropping his nose down on the wire first when second-up in the G1 W S Cox Plate in late October, the...

Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) became just the third horse since the turn of the century to capture each of the four 2000-metre features in Hong Kong, as he outbattled fellow BMW Hong Kong Derby winner Voyage Bubble (Aus) (Deep Field {Aus}) in an epic renewal of the G1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup at Sha Tin Racecourse Sunday afternoon. The 6-year-old joins Vengeance of Rain (NZ) and Designs on Rome (Ire) as the only horses since 2000 to win the Derby, Gold Cup, G1 FWD QE II Cup and...

Seven times has Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) gone to post over the 2000 metres at Sha Tin Racecourse and on six of those occasions, he has proved victorious, more times than not in convincing fashion. His lone blemish over the course and distance came in the 2023 G1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup, when he was run down close home by multiple Horse of the Year Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro) as the odds-on pop, but barring something unforeseen, Romantic Warrior should be righting that wrong against 10 others...

Make no mistake. Even a sidelined Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro) remains the king of the hill among Hong Kong milers, if not the entire planet. The 8-year-old showed he still had plenty to give with a remarkable first-up performance from a terrible draw in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Mile Dec. 10, and the horse he beat that day, Voyage Bubble (Aus) (Deep Field {Aus}), showed that his effort was anything but a one-off, outlasting Beauty Eternal (Aus) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) in Sunday's G1 Stewards' Cup at Sha Tin Racecourse....

Death, taxes and Hong Kong winners by Deep Field (Aus). Of life's surest eventualities, the latter is definitely worthy of inclusion, and Voyage Bubble (Aus) will look to add to the stallion's impressive local record when he goes in search of a maiden Group 1 success in the G1 Stewards' Cup Sunday at Sha Tin. The chances of Voyage Bubble--and those of his seven rivals--have been done no damage by the absence of G1 Longines Hong Kong Mile hero Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro), who is on the mend and...

An all-the-way winner of January's Hong Kong Classic Mile under a perfectly rationed ride from the visiting Jamie Kah, Voyage Bubble (Aus) (Deep Field {Aus}) capitulated without much of a fight after leading through the opening mile of the Hong Kong Classic Cup, fading into sixth behind Super Sunny Sing (Aus) (Nicconi {Aus}). When connections landed gate 14 at Thursday's barrier draw, the already difficult task at hand seemed that much more daunting, as valuable energy would need to be burned to get across to lead, assuming--of course--that was the...