He has always lived in the long shadow of his world-famous stablemate Romantic Warrior but Romantic Thor enjoyed his day in the sun with a brilliant front-running victory in the Group 3 Queen Mother Memorial Cup at Sha Tin yesterday.
And it almost didn't happen.
Trainer Danny Shum Chap-shing had a dirt race in mind for his unfashionable import before owner Peter Lau Pak-fai talked him into the 2,400 meter staying feature instead. Now Romantic Thor heads to the Group 1 Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup over the same distance on May 24 – a race shaping as one of the highlights of the season.
Romantic Warrior will be aiming to become the third horse to clinch Hong Kong's Triple Crown – and its $10 million bonus – but will face stiff competition from last year's Triple Crown hero Voyage Bubble along with Japanese raiders Rousham Park and Deep Monster. Francis Lui Kin-wai confirmed third-placed Winning Wing is likely to press on to the Group 1 and will be joined by Champions Mile runner-up and 2025 BMW Hong Kong Derby winner Cap Ferrat, with Australian-based jockey Craig Williams flying in to reunite with the five-year-old. Numbers, the front-runner who finished seventh in the recent FWD QEII Cup, will also line up.
Romantic Thor will be a minor player in that company but his path to Sunday's win was a story in itself.
"I need to thank the owner Peter – he was stalking me and saying we should run in this race," Shum said. "I was saying 'next week we have got a dirt race we can put him in.' But he said if he can handle 2,000m training out of Ireland, he can handle 2,400m here."
Lau purchased the former Aidan O'Brien-trained galloper with a view to the 2025 BMW Hong Kong Derby.The son of Justify started off with a rating of 82 but didn't qualify for the feature after a series of setbacks, sliding to a mark of 70 through 12 runs.
Recent form had been encouraging, albeit on the all-weather track, and the switch to 2,400m on turf proved a masterstroke.
Lightning activity during the pre-parade of the race before the Queen Mother Memorial Cup forced horses to be returned to the saddling stalls on safety grounds, delaying the program. The Queen Mother Memorial Cup has been notorious for wet weather through the years and it again played a part, the track rated ‘yielding’. It was later further downgraded to ‘soft’ after race seven.
Matthew Poon Ming-fai dipped below his usual riding weight to take the ride, claiming one pound over the allocated weight of 115 pounds. He produced an exceptional front-running effort, rating the third favorite through steady sectionals.
"I trialed him a few times and I know he can stay,” Poon said. “He could handle two miles. That is why I was not going to slow him down, just maintain a nice tempo and try and quicken at the 1,000m. With the light weight, if they follow my pace they would tire."
Poon said making the weight was no issue.
"I was 119 last night and I woke up and had already dropped a couple of pounds. Not hard. I was still happy and had good focus,” he said.
Shum was full of praise for his jockey – even if he quipped the Poon “looked a bit skinny.”
"Matthew controlled the pace – it was a fantastic ride. I always say Matthew is a very good jockey," Shum said.
It was a familiar combination in the race – Poon rode Butterfield to victory in the 2021 Queen Mother Memorial Cup for Shum before the pair finished fourth behind Panfield in that year's Champions & Chater Cup.
𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓
