Sunday week\u2019s (25 January) HK$13 million G1 Stewards\u2019 Cup (1600m) shapes as an epic showdown, where 11-time Group 1 winner Romantic Warrior faces last season\u2019s Triple Crown hero Voyage Bubble at Sha Tin, while on the same afternoon, Ka Ying Rising steps out in the HK$13 million G1 Centenary Sprint Cup (1200m).<\/p>
Romantic Warrior has never been beaten by Voyage Bubble, although the Stewards\u2019 Cup \u2013 leg one of Hong Kong\u2019s Triple Crown \u2013 is staged over the latter\u2019s optimal distance, and it is a race he won in 2024 and 2025 in addition to consecutive HK$36 million G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Mile (1600m) triumphs across the same years.\u00a0<\/p>
The Triple Crown also encompasses the HK$13 million G1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup (2000m) on 1 March before rounding out with the stamina-testing HK$13 million G1 Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup (2400m) on 24 May.\u00a0<\/p>
In preparation, Romantic Warrior worked effortlessly through a barrier trial at Sha Tin this morning (Tuesday, 13 January) on the dirt over 1200m, finishing an impressive first in 1m 10.12s under Hugh Bowman for trainer Danny Shum.<\/p>
Bowman said: \u201cHe feels great. He\u2019s in really good order. He trialled superbly this morning, and I\u2019m sure he\u2019ll go to the mile race at the end of the month in top order.\u201d<\/p>
A Group 1 winner in four separate jurisdictions, Romantic Warrior is world racing\u2019s highest-earning horse ever (HK$240.10 million). He recently captured a record-extending fourth consecutive HK$40 million G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Cup (2000m) under James McDonald.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>
The Triple Crown carries a bonus of HK$10 million for connections of the successful horse in all three races. Only River Verdon (1993\/94) and Voyage Bubble (2024\/25) have claimed Hong Kong\u2019s Triple Crown.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]
Romantic Warrior works on the dirt at Sha Tin.<\/p>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Bowman will be aboard Group 1 winner Red Lion in the Stewards\u2019 Cup, and said: \u201cHe\u2019s a very reliable horse, and he does get better with racing. His trial was fantastic (on 2 January) and he\u2019ll trial again later this week, but I think he\u2019s in his best form of the season so far. It\u2019s exciting.\u201d<\/p>
Meanwhile, Zac Purton has opted to ride 97-rated Sagacious Life in the HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m), leaving Vincent Ho to partner Little Paradise, while Bowman stays with Invincible Ibis.<\/p>
\u201cYou\u2019re faced with a decision like that all the time, but it\u2019s a unique year, where all of the horses have continued to progress,\u201d Purton said. \u201cThey\u2019ve done nothing wrong \u2013 you could make a claim for all of them. It\u2019s shaping as one of the most competitive Classic Miles I\u2019ve ever seen.<\/p>
\u201cI did like that effort (Sagacious Life\u2019s most recent win). It\u2019s not easy here in Class 2 as a young horse, and he carried a big weight to do that.\u201d<\/p>
Two-time winner Sagacious Life is trained by Pierre Ng. He has won twice in Class 2 over a mile, including on 4 January with Purton.<\/p>
The Hong Kong Classic Mile kicks off the HK$52 million Four-Year-Old Classic Series, which also features the HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) on 1 March before climaxing with the 149th HK$26 million BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) on 22 March.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”12848″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Trainer Caspar Fownes saddles Kaholo Angel (115lb) in Wednesday\u2019s (14 January) HK$4.2 million G3 January Cup Handicap (1800m) at Happy Valley.<\/p>
Fownes said: \u201cHe\u2019s done really well, this horse, and he\u2019s surprised me a bit to tell you the truth. The horse presents well and hopefully he can stay the extra 150 metres. We\u2019re just throwing him in the deep end here. We\u2019ll see how he jumps from barrier 10, but ideally speaking, I\u2019d like to ride him quiet with a view to seeing him finish off strongly.\u201d<\/p>
Aiming to enhance his 26 wins this term, Bowman links with last-start winner Silvery Breeze (132lb) in the Class 3 APM Monaco Cup Handicap (1650m) for trainer David Eustace.<\/p>
\u201cHis form actually this season has been very, very good. He\u2019s drawn a bit awkwardly in barrier 12, so that\u2019s not going to help, but he\u2019s a pretty reliable horse, so we\u2019re looking forward to seeing what he can bring to the table this time,\u201d Bowman said.<\/p>
Wednesday\u2019s (14 January) nine-race fixture at Happy Valley begins at 6.35pm with the Class 5 Meteorites Handicap (1200m).<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”12846″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Sunday week\u2019s (25 January) HK$13 million G1 Stewards\u2019 Cup (1600m) shapes as an epic showdown, where 11-time Group 1 winner Romantic Warrior faces last season\u2019s Triple Crown hero Voyage Bubble at Sha Tin, while on the same afternoon, Ka Ying Rising steps out in the HK$13 million G1 Centenary Sprint Cup… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":12850,"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\/racing-event-hub-gentlemens-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12844"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-gentlemens-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-gentlemens-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-gentlemens-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-gentlemens-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12844"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-gentlemens-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12844\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12860,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-gentlemens-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12844\/revisions\/12860"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-gentlemens-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-gentlemens-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-gentlemens-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-gentlemens-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}