Racing thrives on rivalries and some great examples are brewing in the sport between horses, arch-rival jockeys, racing jurisdictions and even angry American owners.
The rush to send stallions to stud has robbed racing of many potential horse rivalries in recent years but in Asia - where in Hong Kong most horses are geldings and owners don't have the lure of breeding rights, and in Japan where stallions commonly race on through their four-year-old and even five-year-old seasons - there is time for them to develop.
News out of Dubai that Romantic Warrior's trainer Danny Shum Chap-shing would consider returning to the Saudi Cup next year with Hong Kong's greatest horse should have racing fans excited.
Romantic Warrior was of course denied a win in the 2025 Saudi Cup by Japan's Forever Young in one of the most iconic races of all time.
Forever Young, who will start favorite in Saturday's Dubai World Cup is four and trainer Yoshito Yahagi indicated this week that the horse would likely race next season.
A rematch dubbed "The Rumble In Riyadh II" certainly has a ring to it.
First things first though, on Saturday Romantic Warrior contests the Group 1 Dubai Turf, clashing with Japan's Liberty Island.
Last time they met Romantic Warrior got the better of Liberty Island and as winning jockey James McDonald crossed the line his salute, turning back slightly, holding out his free hand, as if to say to the chasing pack "is that all you have got?" angered a few fans, at least online.
It doesn't take much to spark outrage on social media though and the Hong Kong versus Japan rivalry is generally spite-free.
The lead-up to Champions Day at Sha Tin on April 27 could get a little more spicy though, especially if Joao Moreira keeps making the case for Satono Reve in the G1 Chairman's Sprint Prize and his old sparring partner Zac Purton bites back.
Ka Ying Rising, ridden by Purton, looks unbeatable at Sha Tin and there is more talk about the horse contesting the Everest, a race more than six months away in Sydney, than there is of the next G1 here.
This week Moreira perhaps started planting some seeds of doubt in the minds of those in the Ka Ying Rising camp. "You could wake up tomorrow sick and not be able to go to work and the same thing can happen to horses," he said. "They can have an off day and sometimes, it can just be luck of the draw. If something happens to Ka Ying Rising, then Satono Reve is the favorite."
It's hardly a war of words, and Moreira knows he wouldn't win if it was a verbal stoush with the always quotable and combative Purton, who has perfected the art of the subtle, or not so subtle, "sledge," as he and his fellow Australians call it.
While the Hong Kong and Japan rivalries are relatively good-natured and free of trash-talking - as Americans call it - over in the United States two bombastic owners and their public slanging matches will be coming to a streaming service near you soon.
The trailer for Race For The Crown, launching on Netflix on April 22, indicates that the feud between billionaire owner Mike Repole and John Stewart will feature heavily.
"It's just Mike's loud mouth that I get tired of," Stewart says in the trailer.
It's about time racing got back into the mainstream and rivalries like Repole versus Stewart could attract new fans. It is the rivalries on the racetrack though, like Romantic Warrior versus the world, that will keep fans for a lifetime.
