Romantic Warrior

A total of 33 UK and Irish raiders--including 2024 G1 Hong Kong Vase hero Giavellotto (Mastercraftsman), and G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe second Minnie Hauk (Frankel)--are among the entries for the Longines Hong Kong International Races (HKIR) at Sha Tin on Sunday, December 14. Offering record prize-money of HK130 million (£12.7 million), the race day has drawn 185 horses--70 of them top-level winners for the four Group 1 races. Can Europe Secure The Cup? In the HK$40-million (£3.9 million) Longines Hong Kong Cup over 2000 meters, Aidan O'Brien has...

The Aga Khan Studs' Calandagan, fresh off a victory in the G1 Champion Stakes, has been ranked 133 by Timeform, second only to Hong Kong Horse of the Year and recent G1 The Everest winner Ka Ying Rising (Shamexpress), who is at 135. The ranking is the highest for a European horse this year. The Hong Kong invader received a mark of 128 for his Australian heroics. The son of Gleneagles surpassed the mark of 131 given to Daryz (Sea The Stars), who also races in the iconic green with...

The world's highest-rated sprinter, Ka Ying Rising (Shamexpress) scooped a trio of titles including Horse of the Year at the Hong Kong Champion Awards at the Rosewood Hotel in Hong Kong on Friday night. The 4-year-old gelding also earned the title of Hong Kong Champion Sprinter and Hong Kong Champion 4-Year-Old at the ceremony. Running in the colours of the Ka Ying Syndicate, Ka Ying Rising was undefeated during his 2024/2025 season with eight wins in eight trips to the post for David Hayes. His final seven starts of the...

Field Of Gold (Kingman) and Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder) have joined Forever Young (Real Steel) at the top of the LONGINES World's Best Racehorse Rankings for 2025, after producing blockbuster performances to win at Royal Ascot. Juddmonte's Field Of Gold won the G1 St James's Palace Stakes by three and a half lengths, while stablemate Ombudsman ran out a decisive winner of the G1 Prince Of Wales's Stakes, by two lengths from last year's G1 Champion Stakes winner Anmaat (Awtaad) [123]. Both horses are now rated 127, matching the figure...

Hong Kong Horse of the Year Romantic Warrior underwent surgery at the Hong Kong Jockey Club's Equine Hospital on Wednesday, May 28, the HKJC announced on Thursday. He has since returned to trainer Danny Shum's stables at Sha Tin. According to a statement from the HKJC, "The procedure followed a computerised tomography (CT) examination and a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination of his forelimbs performed on 16 May, 2025 as part of a proactive health- screening process in accordance with the Club's systematic procedures for ensuring the welfare of our...

Hong Kong's star sprinter Ka Ying Rising (Shamexpress) has moved up the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings to sit in a joint second at 126, after the latest round of rankings were released on Thursday. Now a winner of 12-straight after his victory in the G1 Chairman's Sprint Prize, he shares that mark with fellow Hong Kong wunderkind Romantic Warrior (Acclamation). Japan's Forever Young (Real Steel) remains the leader at 127. After the first Classics of the season, G1 2000 Guineas hero Ruling Court (Justify) is among the top 10...

DUBAI, UAE--Ace Japanese trainer Yoshito Yahagi has laid down a pretty frightening gauntlet to his Dubai World Cup rivals by revealing that Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}) could have even more improvement up his sleeve following his epic Saudi Cup triumph over Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) last month.  With the Hong Kong superstar being aimed at the Dubai Turf, Forever Young is set to go off odds-on for Saturday's showpiece event. And while the Breeders' Cup was put forward as the ultimate long-term aim for Forever Young, Yahagi...

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES -- Though it was north of 70 degrees Farenheit (that's about 22 degrees on the Celsius scale for those of you who do things that way), there was still a bit of a chill in the air when the first of the horses bound for Saturday's Dubai World Cup meeting here at Meydan Racecourse took to the oval. As per usual, Team Japan are the earliest of the early risers and one of the most enjoyable aspects of trackwork, from this reporter's perspective, is the way...

Danny Shum has indicated that his Hong Kong superstar Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) may yet return to Riyadh for a second attempt at the Saudi Cup at the age of eight. The 10-time Group 1 winner lost out by a neck to Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}) in the $20 million contest, the pair having pulled more than 10 lengths clear of 2024 runner-up Ushba Tesoro (Jpn). "It was a great run and for the next 10 years they will be talking about what a great race The...

Watch out for the "Little Guy." Sold for just $70,000 at a yearling sale in Texas, owned by a grocery store owner from Alabama who has had just a few horses and trained by a veteran who had never won a graded stakes race before last weekend, Coal Battle (Coal Front) isn't exactly your typical GI Kentucky Derby horse. But the son Coal Front did it again last week, winning the GII Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn. Having also won the Smarty Jones Stakes, he is obviously for real. To talk...

RIYADH, KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA -- Fourteen horses with Grade I or Group 1 form from America, Argentina, Dubai, Hong Kong, Japan and even Uruguay will take their chance at the winner's share of the $20-million gross purse for the world's richest horse race, Saturday's G1 Saudi Cup at King Abdulaziz Racecourse. And few of them are without some sort of chance. Susumu Fujita's Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}) returns to the Saudi capital 12 months on from a last-lunge success in the G3 Saudi Derby and looks to...

RIYADH, KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA -- Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}), a Group 1 winner at the back end of 2024 in the Tokyo Daishoten and third in the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Breeders' Cup Classic, will jump from the widest alley in barrier 14 for Saturday's G1 Saudi Cup at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh. Post positions were drawn Wednesday evening at the racecourse. Also victorious in a thrilling renewal of the G3 Saudi Derby on this program 12 months ago, the 4-year-old colt will once again have...