Twice involved in BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) triumphs, Michael Kinane is optimistic of sharing in a third Classic conquest as Romantic Warrior continues an increasingly accomplished campaign in the HK$12 million Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) at Sha Tin on Sunday (27 February).<\/p>
Kinane selected and bought Romantic Warrior at the 2019 Tattersalls Sale in his role for the Hong Kong Jockey Club and with the son of Acclamation posting five consecutive wins, including success in the Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m), the unbeaten Hong Kong International Sale graduate has risen to the top of BMW Hong Kong Derby discussions.<\/p>
Former champion Irish jockey Kinane has monitored Danny Shum\u2019s emerging talent with unstinting interest as Romantic Warrior has improved his rating from 52 to 101, making the quantum leap from Class 4 to Four-Year-Old Classic Series elite in the space of five runs with victory in the Hong Kong Classic Mile.<\/p>
\u201cHe had to fight his way into a tight corner in the home stretch (in the Mile), which he did really well, and then he had to wait to get his run and he still had four lengths to make up on Tony Cruz\u2019s horse (California Spangle), who\u2019s a very talented horse \u2013 and he made it up, so I thought it was a really good performance,\u201d Kinane told Hong Kong Direct.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”6932″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Looking to Sunday\u2019s contest, Kinane \u2013 who prevailed in the Hong Kong Derby aboard Sound Print in 1992 and Che Sara Sara in 1996 \u2013 believes Romantic Warrior has no stamina concerns.<\/p>
\u201cHe has a great way of racing, he has that good tactical early speed, he just relaxes so well \u2013 he goes to sleep, which is a big asset when you\u2019re asking a horse to go on and stay a bit. He conserves his energy as much as possible and you\u2019d have to say watching his last win that 1800m is well within his scope,\u201d he said.<\/p>
Reflecting on his decision to acquire Romantic Warrior, Kinane said: \u201cHe was just a lovely individual and very athletic and very correct. He was the only horse I sent straight to vet that year, so I had my mind made up \u2013 I wanted him so, thankfully, he passed the vet and I was to acquire him.\u201d<\/p>
Caspar Fownes is pinning hopes of a successive BMW Hong Kong Derby on Senor Toba on 20 March and Joao Moreira believes the steely grey will benefit strongly after missing the Class 2 Fat Choi Handicap (1800m) on 3 February because of lameness.<\/p>
Fownes and Moreira combined memorably last season with Sky Darci and retain hopes Senor Toba can emulate his former stablemate despite a recent injury setback.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”6933″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
\u201cThe perfect scenario would be if he\u2019d had that run but I\u2019ve been on him since then and he gave me a good feel,\u201d Moreira said. \u201cWhile he might not be 100 per cent, he will improve and only racing will allow him to find that extra improvement that he needs.<\/p>
\u201cHe needs to run a good race looking towards the Derby, if he runs a good race and makes it hard for them to beat him then I think he is going to be a seriously good ride for the Derby because he wants the further distance.\u201d<\/p>
Bristling with confidence after Russian Emperor\u2019s success in the G1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup (2000m) at Sha Tin last Sunday, Blake Shinn hopes Cordyceps Six can continue his upward spiral for Richard Gibson in the Class 2 Lek Yuen Handicap (1200m).<\/p>
\u201cCordyceps Six is a horse with plenty of potential, he\u2019s building a really nice record and he\u2019s a young horse going places,\u201d Shinn said as the three-year-old extends to 1200m for the first time after four wins and three placings over 1000m.<\/p>
\u201cHe\u2019s made his way into Class 2, so he\u2019s tackling the big boys \u2013 there\u2019s nowhere to hide for him and we\u2019re going to see where he\u2019s at on the weekend. I\u2019m looking forward to seeing where he sits against a great bunch of horses on Sunday.<\/p>
\u201cHe possesses all the qualities to run 1200 metres. He conserves his energy, he\u2019s strong and he runs through the line.<\/p>
\u201cI think he\u2019s going to end up at a very high level and hopefully on Sunday, he can continue on that pathway.\u201d<\/p>
Sunday\u2019s (27 February) 10-race fixture at Sha Tin kicks off at 1pm with the Class 5 Wo Che Handicap (2000m).<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”6931″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Twice involved in BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) triumphs, Michael Kinane is optimistic of sharing in a third Classic conquest as Romantic Warrior continues an increasingly accomplished campaign in the HK$12 million Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) at Sha Tin on Sunday (27 February).Kinane selected and bought Romantic Warrior at the… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":6936,"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\/hk-classic-cup\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6929"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/hk-classic-cup\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/hk-classic-cup\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/hk-classic-cup\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/hk-classic-cup\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6929"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/hk-classic-cup\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6929\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6945,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/hk-classic-cup\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6929\/revisions\/6945"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/hk-classic-cup\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/hk-classic-cup\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/hk-classic-cup\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/hk-classic-cup\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}