Romantic Warrior is looking to level the score with Golden Sixty when the pair meets for the second time across their respective careers in Sunday\u2019s (26 February) HK$12 million G1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup (2000m) at Sha Tin.<\/p>
Defeated by Golden Sixty in the G1 Stewards\u2019 Cup (1600m) last month, Romantic Warrior this weekend returns to his optimum distance which he boasts four victories over last year in the BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m), G1 FWD QEII Cup (2000m), G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Cup (2000m) and G2 BOCHK Jockey Club Cup (2000m).\u00a0<\/p>
Golden Sixty is a two-time winner over the trip having triumphed in the 2020 BMW Hong Kong Derby and 2021 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup. Trainer Danny Shum is under no illusion of the task at hand as he attempts to unseat Hong Kong\u2019s current champion.<\/p>
\u201cI think Golden Sixty will be hard to beat \u2013 we have to respect him. He\u2019s a genius horse and it\u2019s a hard race, for sure,\u201d Shum said. \u201cWe\u2019ll keep it simple \u2013 fingers crossed.\u201d<\/p>
Karis Teetan hops aboard Romantic Warrior again this weekend, while six others are set to feature including Money Catcher, Tourbillon Diamond, Ka Ying Star, Glorious Dragon, Savvy Nine and Panfield.<\/p>
\u201cHe\u2019s (Romantic Warrior) good, he\u2019s happy \u2013 there\u2019s been no problems. It all depends on the draw, but he should be able to sit third, fourth or fifth (in the run),\u201d Shum said.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]
Romantic Warrior wins the LONGINES Hong Kong Cup.<\/p>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Francis Lui has indicated Golden Sixty \u2013 a seven-year-old now \u2013 has held his condition between runs as he chases a second Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup win and an enhancement to his all-time earnings record in Hong Kong (HK$129.69 million).<\/p>
\u201cHe\u2019s keeping his form, we\u2019ll give him another grass gallop on Thursday morning (23 February).<\/p>
\u201cHe\u2019s still healthy, everything is fine and I hope he can handle the distance \u2013 before he has. I think so (to appreciating 2000m more now), I think he\u2019s more relaxed and he seems much better,\u201d Lui said.<\/p>
Golden Sixty stamped his authority over Hong Kong racing\u2019s hierarchy last start with victory over Romantic Warrior and California Spangle, however, facing Romantic Warrior over 10 furlongs looms as the latest threat to his sustained supremacy.\u00a0<\/p>
\u201cWe only have two choices, the 1400 or 2000 \u2013 I prefer the 2000 metres. We\u2019ll just jump out, relax him (Golden Sixty) \u2013 he\u2019s stepping up in distance, so he needs to relax,\u201d Lui said.<\/p>
Tourbillon Diamond forms a two-pronged assault in the Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup for Shum, while also holding an entry for the G1 Dubai Turf (1800m) at Meydan on 25 March.<\/p>
\u201cHe\u2019s entered to run in the Dubai Turf. We\u2019ll see how he runs in this race and whether we stick to that plan and go to Dubai or not,\u201d Shum said.<\/p>
As for California Spangle \u2013 Tony Cruz\u2019s classy miler limbered up this morning under Zac Purton as he prepares for his G1 Queen\u2019s Silver Jubilee Cup (1400m) tilt on 19 March.<\/p>
\u201cHe races in the Queen\u2019s Silver Jubilee Cup \u2013 we\u2019ll have one more trial before the race, it\u2019s seven weeks between runs, so there\u2019s not many options for him.<\/p>
\u201cHe\u2019s a very healthy horse \u2013 Zac was very happy with him, he said he was much more relaxed this morning. He goes when he wants him to go, when Zac asks the question, he goes. He\u2019s pulled up good, we\u2019ll just have one more trial before the run,\u201d Cruz said.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]
California Spangle stretches out under Zac Purton.<\/p>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
California Spangle clocked 58.15s down the turf straight at Sha Tin and is expected to face the likes of Lucky Sweynesse and Wellington in the Queen\u2019s Silver Jubilee Cup.<\/p>
Dragon\u2019s looking to bounce back at Happy Valley <\/strong><\/p> Danny Shum will saddle Nordic Dragon at Happy Valley on Wednesday night (22 February), hopeful the expensive Hong Kong International Sale graduate is capable of returning to winning ways when he lines up in the Class 3 O\u2019Brien Handicap (1200m) following a lacklustre eighth at Sha Tin last month.<\/p> Vincent Ho has been in the plate for each of the four-year-old\u2019s starts and once again takes riding duties.<\/p> \u201cI was a little bit disappointed (with his last run) but I think he is still young and he has never raced there (at Sha Tin) before, so we can forget that and in the future, he can still go back and have more experience there,\u201d Ho said.<\/p> Nordic Dragon cost a whopping HK$7 million at the 2022 Hong Kong International Sale; he\u2019s already returned HK$2.59 million to his owner Edmond Yue.<\/p> \u201cBack to 1200 metres at Happy Valley, he should run very well, he should be competitive and his fitness is back. After some time off, now I think he\u2019s ready,\u201d Ho said.<\/p> Vincent Ho leads the Happy Valley jockeys\u2019 standings this season with 32 wins \u2013 six clear of Zac Purton, who holds second.<\/p> \u201cI ride for some good stables at Happy Valley, like my ex-boss (Caspar Fownes), Francis Lui and Frankie Lor \u2013 they all perform very well at Happy Valley,\u201d Ho said.<\/p> Meaningful Star returns for the first time since February, 2022 when he lines in the Class 3 Luard Handicap (1650m) under Ho at Happy Valley for Francis Lui.<\/p> \u201cAt this stage, the vet always suggested to give him a little bit of time. He likes Happy Valley very much, that\u2019s why I have put him back there,\u201d Lui said.<\/p> The chestnut suffered a left fore ligament injury in August which delayed his return this season.<\/p> \u201cWe\u2019re happy with his trials but he hasn’t run for a very long time,\u201d Lui said.<\/p> Wednesday\u2019s (22 February) nine-race fixture at Happy Valley commences at 6.45pm with the second section of the Class 5 Fenwick Handicap (1200m).<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”8095″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Romantic Warrior is looking to level the score with Golden Sixty when the pair meets for the second time across their respective careers in Sunday\u2019s (26 February) HK$12 million G1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup (2000m) at Sha Tin.Defeated by Golden Sixty in the G1 Stewards\u2019 Cup (1600m) last month, Romantic… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":8100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"2normal","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/citi-hkgold-cup\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8092"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/citi-hkgold-cup\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/citi-hkgold-cup\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/citi-hkgold-cup\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/citi-hkgold-cup\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8092"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/citi-hkgold-cup\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8092\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8108,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/citi-hkgold-cup\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8092\/revisions\/8108"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/citi-hkgold-cup\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/citi-hkgold-cup\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/citi-hkgold-cup\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/citi-hkgold-cup\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}