FWD Champions Day 2026, selected runners: Romantic Warrior's QEII Cup test, Ka Ying Rising goes for 20 in sprint and a wide-open Champions Mile

Romantic Warrior will confront the deepest international lineup of his career, Ka Ying Rising will bid for a 20th straight victory and a wide-open FWD Champions Mile awaits a swarm of contenders when Sha Tin hosts FWD Champions Day on Sunday, April 26, with HK$78 million in prize money on the line across three Group 1 features.

Danny Shum Chap-shing's global earnings record-holder Romantic Warrior, a three-time winner of the FWD QEII Cup, will attempt to become the first four-time winner of the 2,000-meter feature against an overseas raid headed by Japan's Masquerade Ball and Britain's Royal Champion. Ka Ying Rising, the world's top-rated racehorse, can move another win beyond Silent Witness' mark of 17 consecutive wins for a Hong Kong-trained horse if he prevails in the Chairman's Sprint Prize. The FWD Champions Mile, meanwhile, looms as the most competitive of the three races, with Japan's four-time Group 1 winner Jantar Mantar shipping in to take on Triple Crown winner Voyage Bubble, defending champion Red Lion and exciting BMW Hong Kong Derby winner Invincible Ibis.

Thirteen individual Group 1 winners feature among the 38 selected runners, with 13 visitors from overseas adding to the international flavor of Hong Kong's spring showpiece.

Andrew Harding, executive director of racing at the Hong Kong Jockey Club, said: "FWD Champions Day is always an outstanding day of racing, and we are delighted at the quality of the 2026 renewal. We have 13 visitors from overseas, including Masquerade Ball and Royal Champion, who will test the mighty Romantic Warrior in what shapes as one the FWD QEII Cup's best renewals. Ka Ying Rising has won 19 races in a row, and his continued streak adds an increasing layer of excitement. In addition, our exciting four-year-olds will rise to the Group 1 challenge, including Invincible Ibis, Little Paradise and Stormy Grove."

FWD QEII Cup (G1, 2,000m, HK$30 million)

Romantic Warrior bids for a fourth FWD QEII Cup, having won the race in 2022, 2023 and 2024 before missing last year's edition. Danny Shum's superstar, the holder of the global earnings record at HK$254.66 million and the most Group 1 wins by a Hong Kong-trained horse with 13, has rarely faced a deeper field in the 10-furlong test.

Japan's Masquerade Ball spearheads the international challenge after running second to Calandagan in last year's G1 Japan Cup. Christophe Lemaire takes the ride. Karl Burke's Royal Champion arrives in career-best form after taking out the G1 Neom Turf Cup in February, beating Group 1 winner Facteur Cheval. Museum Mile, with Cristian Demuro booked, Andre Fabre's Sosie, Hidenori Take's June Take, who will be ridden by Joao Moreira, and Haruki Sugiyama's Giovanni, with Jason Collett aboard, round out the Japanese and European raid.
 

FWD Champions Mile (G1, 1,600m, HK$24 million)

The Champions Mile shapes as the most open of the three features, with no clear favorite emerging from a field stacked with international class and local depth. Only two visitors — Maurice in 2016 and Variety Club in 2014 — have won the race since 2000, but Japan's Jantar Mantar arrives with the credentials to break that pattern, having taken out the 2025 G1 Yasuda Kinen and Mile Championship among his four top-level wins. Yuga Kawada will partner the Tomokazu Takano-trained galloper, also raced by Shadai Stallion Station.

Strauss, trained by Ryo Takei, has Joao Moreira booked, while Britain's Docklands ships in for Harry Eustace. They take on Triple Crown winner Voyage Bubble, defending champion Red Lion and recent BMW Hong Kong Derby winner Invincible Ibis, who will be ridden by James McDonald for Mark Newnham. Stablemate My Wish has Hugh Bowman lined up.

Galaxy Patch, Lucky Sweynesse, Cap Ferrat, Sunlight Power, Chancheng Glory, Copartner Prance and Little Paradise complete the field, with Patch Of Theta, Beauty Joy and Stormy Grove on standby.
 

Chairman's Sprint Prize (G1, 1,200m, HK$24 million)

Ka Ying Rising will line up searching for his 20th consecutive win. David Hayes' Hong Kong Horse of the Year holds the Sha Tin course records over 1,200m and 1,400m, and victory would also secure a second HK$5 million Hong Kong Speed Series bonus.

Japan's Satono Reve, twice placed behind Ka Ying Rising at the top level, looms as the chief threat for trainer Noriyuki Hori after back-to-back wins in the G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen. Last-start G1 Al Quoz Sprint winner Native Approach makes the trip for Ahmad bin Harmash, while Donnacha O'Brien's well-traveled Comanche Brave adds further international flavor.

Helios Express, with Hugh Bowman booked for John Size, leads the local defense alongside Fast Network, Raging Blizzard, Tomodachi Kokoroe, Beauty Waves, Lucky With You and Colourful King.