Read More
Imagine a world without Romantic Warrior and Ka Ying Rising. It’s not that difficult when you consider that each is the bloodstock equivalent of finding a needle in a haystack.
Romantic Warrior came via the Hong Kong International Sale. Ka Ying Rising is by Shamexpress and was not even offered for sale as a yearling. Neither followed a conventional path, which only reinforces how fragile the supply line really is.
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT
And with Romantic Warrior now a rising eight-year-old, his career is inevitably closer to the end than the beginning. That reality has to be acknowledged before we get to the inevitable question: where is the next star?
For a start, in this alternate universe without Hong Kong’s ‘big two’, we would be talking far more seriously about Voyage Bubble’s place among the pantheon of modern Hong Kong greats.
Consider the Voyage Bubble résumé: a Classic Mile and Hong Kong Derby at four, a Triple Crown – only the second in history – and then a second consecutive Hong Kong Mile.
A career record of 12 wins from 29 starts – six of them at Group 1 level and two more Hong Kong ‘Classics’ – puts Voyage Bubble in rare air when it comes to sustained excellence.
That record stacks up favourably against modern greats and Horse of the Year winners from the past 15 years such as Ambitious Dragon, Able Friend, Werther, Military Attack and Designs On Rome.
Some may argue Voyage Bubble lacks the sheer brilliance of one or two of those names, but none can claim his versatility. He has ticked boxes they could not, and the only blemish on his CV remains two failures on foreign shores.
Voyage Bubble sits just below the recent run of superstars – Beauty Generation, Golden Sixty and now Ka Ying Rising and Romantic Warrior – without whom he would almost certainly have multiple Horse of the Year titles to his name.
In a world without Ka Ying Rising and Romantic Warrior, the other issue that quickly comes into focus is the depth of Hong Kong’s quality, particularly in the middle-distance ranks.
Is the rightful celebration of having two all-time greats papering over some emerging cracks?
Of particular concern is the strength of last year’s Derby class. My Wish was seen as, if not the class dux, then the horse most likely to succeed. His failure in Sunday’s Hong Kong Mile leaves genuine questions about his true ceiling. Others have fared worse: Cap Ferrat is injured, while Rubylot went into the Derby at start 19, so perhaps a lack of upside should not have come as a surprise.
Run your eye through the 2025 Derby field and you find a list of horses with promise that has not been realised – Johannes Brahms and Mickley among them.
Horses eligible for that Derby are better represented in the sprint and mile divisions, but at 2,000 metres and beyond the picture is far less reassuring.
Has the policy shift towards a higher proportion of Private Purchase Griffins – horses unraced before arriving in Hong Kong – impacted the quality of middle-distance performers?
For all the success of PPGs, the standout 2,000-metre horses of the past were generally Private Purchases. The distinction matters.
Bloodstock economics have changed. Australia’s prizemoney boom – with stakes money up more than 85 per cent in the past decade – has made it virtually impossible to buy the types of horses former trainer John Moore once identified and secured, horses like Rapper Dragon, Werther or even Beauty Generation. Those profiles are simply no longer for sale.
Which brings the focus sharply onto the 2026 Four-Year-Old Classic Series, and whether the next star might emerge there.
It is early days, but the generation has already taken a hit with serious setbacks to Bulb General and Sky Jewellery – and even at their best, both looked more like high-class milers than anything approaching the next Romantic Warrior.
But then again, which horse is?
We are right to celebrate Romantic Warrior while he is here. Yet it is becoming increasingly clear just how much Hong Kong racing will miss him when he is gone.
