Romantic Warrior’s audacious globetrotting quests may have come to an end after Danny Shum Chap-shing said he’s leaning towards keeping his star on home soil for the duration of next season. The son of Acclamation capped his groundbreaking campaign with his fifth consecutive Group One win in the famed Yasuda Kinen (1,600m) at Tokyo racecourse last month. In doing so, he became the first horse to reign supreme in the Yasuda Kinen and Group One Cox Plate (2,040m), which he collected in the most dramatic fashion at Moonee Valley in October last year.
His monumental Japanese success followed Group One wins in the Cox Plate, Hong Kong Cup, Gold Cup and QE II Cup, and earned him an automatic berth in November’s Group One Breeders’ Cup Mile in the process. After letting the dust settle on Romantic Warrior’s campaign, Shum said a trip to the United States is one of several offers on the table for owner, Peter Lau Pak-fai, to consider. “There are a lot of options for us,” Shum said.
“John Blight from Moonee Valley came and had a meeting with me and Peter Lau to see if we will go back for the Cox Plate, and Bill Nader from the Breeders’ Cup called Peter as well. “For me I’d prefer to stay in Hong Kong, but I have to listen to the boss. We can stay here in November, then go to the Hong Kong Cup, Gold Cup and QE II Cup again.
We need to see.” Of the international assignments on the table for Romantic Warrior, Shum says he is not ruling out a possible defence of hi.
