Warrior strikes twice

Romantic Warrior confirmed himself among the world’s elite with a commanding second consecutive success in the FWD QEII Cup, joining Japanese raider Eishin Preston (2002 & 2003) and Hong Kong legend Viva Pataca (2007 & 2010) with a pair of QEII Cups since the race earned Group 1 status in 2001.

A great Warrior

Joining Werther (2016), Designs On Rome (2014), Ambitious Dragon (2011) and Vengeance Of Rain (2005) in completing the Hong Kong Derby-QEII Cup double, Romantic Warrior crowned an unlikely advance – in the space of eight fleeting starts – from Class 4 company to Group 1 success against Hong Kong’s elite stayers.

Japanese clean sweep

Loves Only You led home a Japanese-trained first four in 2021 with Glory Vase, Daring Tact and Kiseki filling the minor placings.

Purton’s G1 sweep

Zac Purton scores his maiden QEII Cup win atop Exultant to become the first jockey ever to have won each of the 12 Group 1 races on the Hong Kong racing calendar.

Win it Bright

Win Bright gave Japan a third QEII Cup success over the past decade, clocking 1m 58.81s to smash Sha Tin’s 2000m course record in the process.

Pakistan Star stands out

The Tony Cruz-trained Pakistan Star wins his first Group 1 race and also becomes the first International Sale Graduate to win the QEII Cup.

Neorealism makes it five

Neorealism won the 2017 renewal, making his trainer Noriyuki Hori to become the first overseas trainer winning five G1 races in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong one-two-three

For the second time since 1995 the local team filled the top three places in the QEII Cup. Werther was the winner, while Military Attack and Blazing Speed finished second and third respectively.

World’s top ten

The QEII Cup rose to 9th in the World’s Top 100 G1 races – the highest ranked G1 race in Hong Kong in that list in 2015. Its prize money also rose to HK$20 million.

Rising up the rankings

The QEII Cup was ranked 19th in the list of the World’s Top 100 G1s announced by the IFHA.

Record earnings

Viva Pataca notched his second QEII Cup win and in the process took its career earnings past HK$80 million to become the highest money earner in Hong Kong at that time, eclipsing the mark set by 2005 winner Vengeance Of Rain.

On top of the world

Hong Kong’s Vengeance Of Rain took this race en route to being the overall champion of the World Racing Championships that year.

Consecutive wins

Eishin Preston from Japan became the first horse to win the QEII Cup in consecutive years.

On the map

Prize money further increased to HK$14 million and the race gained inclusion in the World Racing Championships series.

A Group 1 race

The QEII Cup was promoted to G1 status and prize money rose to HK$10 million.

French delight

French runner Jim And Tonic took the race in 2m 00.1s, a 2000m track record at Sha Tin at that time. The race itself attained G2 status the same year.

First for Hong Kong

Oriental Express brought Hong Kong a first victory in the race since it became an international event three years earlier.

Trip Extended

The race was changed to the current distance of 2000m.

Going international

The QEII Cup was opened to international runners as a HKG1 contest.

Status upgrade

The race was raised to HKG2 level when the pattern race system was introduced in the 1991/92 season.

Twice over

The race was run twice, first in April and then on 22 October when Queen Elizabeth II was again in attendance, this time at Sha Tin Racecourse.

A Royal visit

The first running of the QEII Cup was on 5 May when Queen Elizabeth II was in attendance at Happy Valley Racecourse for the event.