Ricky Yiu has declared it\u2019s all systems go for Voyage Bubble ahead of his six-time Group 1 winner\u2019s Triple Crown defence, which begins in Sunday\u2019s (25 January) HK$13 million G1 Stewards\u2019 Cup (1600m) at Sha Tin, when he clashes with Romantic Warrior.<\/p>
\u201cHe had a really good gallop on Saturday (17 January). He\u2019s fit and he wasn\u2019t blowing at all. Very good signs,\u201d Yiu said. \u201cThe feedback from Zac (Purton) was very promising. It seems as though the horse has never had a run and that he is coping with everything.\u201d<\/p>
Voyage Bubble last season (2024\/25) became the second Triple Crown winner after the legendary River Verdon first achieved the feat in 1993\/94. Raced by the Sunshine And Moonlight Syndicate, the bay worked on Sha Tin\u2019s turf in 1m 13.3s (25.6, 24.9, 22.8) alongside stablemate Tourbillon Golfer, as he prepares for this weekend\u2019s challenge.<\/p>
\u201cHe\u2019s really, really well,\u201d Yiu said. \u201cI would say the mile is Voyage Bubble\u2019s best distance, but we\u2019re up against one of the world\u2019s best horses on Sunday. It\u2019s a big challenge for my horse, but he\u2019ll definitely run well.<\/p>
\u201cWe\u2019ll follow the same path as last season. Our fingers are crossed. Romantic Warrior wasn\u2019t here last season and he left us to do the job. Now they will run against each other all the time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]
Voyage Bubble wins the 2025 Stewards\u2019 Cup at Sha Tin.<\/p>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Carrying a HK$10 million bonus, the Triple Crown also comprises the HK$13 million G1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup (2000m) on 1 March before concluding with the HK$13 million G1 Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup (2400m) on 24 May.<\/p>
Yet to defeat Romantic Warrior in two attempts, Yiu expects Voyage Bubble to be a formidable obstacle over his ideal distance against the 11-time Group 1 winner, especially after his HK$36 million G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Mile (1600m) score when defeating Soul Rush, who stunned Romantic Warrior by a nose in a thrilling G1 Dubai Turf (1800m) last April.<\/p>
\u201cI thought he lost the race, but in the final 100 (metres) he fought back (in the LONGINES Hong Kong Mile in December). He has a great heart,\u201d Yiu said.<\/p>
\u201cVoyage Bubble is an unbelievable horse and he has a great heart. He can cope with anything. Right from the start when he was racing over 1200 (metres) to last season\u2019s 2400. He has the talent and he has a smart mind to be able to cope with all of that. He can switch off and then switch on whenever you want.\u201d<\/p>
Voyage Bubble and Romantic Warrior\u2019s most recent meeting saw the latter win comfortably in November\u2019s HK$5.35 million G2 BOCHK Jockey Club Cup (2000m). Yiu is also expected to race Sunlight Power in the Stewards\u2019 Cup. Beauty Joy, Galaxy Patch, Lucky Sweynesse, My Wish, Red Lion and Straight Arron also hold entries.<\/p>
Yiu, 68, is one of the city\u2019s leading trainers with over 1,000 winners in Hong Kong, including luminaries Sacred Kingdom and Fairy King Prawn. He is renowned for his heroics with sprinting talents, including overseas Group 1 winners Amber Sky and Ultra Fantasy.<\/p>
Sunday\u2019s fixture at Sha Tin also features the HK$13 million G1 Centenary Sprint Cup (1200m), where the world\u2019s best sprinter Ka Ying Rising aims to secure a 17th consecutive win \u2013 equalling Silent Witness\u2019 record mark in Hong Kong \u2013 in the opening leg of the three-race Hong Kong Speed Series.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”13059″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Ricky Yiu has declared it\u2019s all systems go for Voyage Bubble ahead of his six-time Group 1 winner\u2019s Triple Crown defence, which begins in Sunday\u2019s (25 January) HK$13 million G1 Stewards\u2019 Cup (1600m) at Sha Tin, when he clashes with Romantic Warrior.\u201cHe had a really good gallop on Saturday (17 January).… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":13060,"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\/13057"}],"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=13057"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-gentlemens-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13057\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13062,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-gentlemens-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13057\/revisions\/13062"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-gentlemens-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-gentlemens-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-gentlemens-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-gentlemens-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}