Romantic Warrior's outstanding performance during the 2023/24 racing season saw the globetrotting Hong Kong hero earn the Horse of the Year title at a special presentation on Friday.
A graduate of the 2021 Hong Kong International Sale as a HK$4.8 million purchase, Romantic Warrior is ranked joint-sixth in the latest LONGINES World’s Best Racehorse Rankings with an international rating of 121. His earnings total HK$151.92 million, after 15 wins from 20 starts.
The Danny Shum-trained gelding started the season with a gallant fourth in the G1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m) in Flemington, Australia. His all-conquering campaign then began with a historic success in the G1 W.S. Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley.
On his return to Hong Kong, he added three Group 1 wins to his tally: the LONGINES Hong Kong Cup (2000m), the Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup (2000m) and the FWD QEII Cup (2000m). Romantic Warrior ended the season with a bang, taking top honors in the G1 Yasuda Kinen (1600m) in Tokyo. His five Group 1 wins are a record for a single season by a Hong Kong horse.
History was also created as Romantic Warrior became the first Hong Kong winner of the W.S. Cox Plate, Australasia’s greatest weight-for-age race, and became the first horse to achieve three consecutive triumphs in the FWD QEII Cup.
Romantic Warrior also secured a third straight title as Champion Middle-Distance Horse following his clean sweep of the three Group 1 races over 2000m here. The newly crowned Horse of the Year was also voted Most Popular Horse by the public this season.
