Romantic Warrior in action in Hong Kong weekend horse racing

1 of 2 | Romantic Warrior trains Nov. 4 for his seasonal debut in Sunday’s Group 2 Jockey Club Cup with international goals in mind. Photo courtesy of Hong Kong Jockey Club
Nov. 15 (UPI) — The cream of the weekend horse racing action is in Asia with Japan hosting one of the world’s top milers and Hong Kong’s best, including Romantic Warrior, prepping for December’s influx of top-level turf runners. Limited action on the North American front is concentrated most on 2-year-olds and the 26th running of the Claiming Crown. Advertisement
So, let’s start at the top.
Around the world, around the clock
Japan
Namur and Soul Rush finished 1-2 in the 2023 Mile Championship. The last time they faced each other, they also finished in that order, but for second and third place behind Hong Kong’s superstar, Romantic Warrior in the Grade 1 Yasuda Kinen.
Both of the Japanese runners are back for Sunday’s renewal of the Grade 1 Mile Championship at Kyoto Racecourse and they have their work cut out of them to avoid once again falling victim to an invader.
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This time it’s Charyn, a Roger Varian-trained 4-year-old who is getting mentions for Horse of the Year after his October victory in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on Champions Day at Ascot. That was his third top-level win of the year to go with two other victories and two seconds.
There are others in the local field who could figure. Serifos won the 2022 Mile Championship and gives it another go. Brede Weg, the 2023 QE II Cup winner, comes off a victory in a Group 2 event at Tokyo Racecourse following nearly a year on the sidelines.
Hong Kong
Romantic Warrior is the star of the three Group 2 races comprising Sunday’s BOCHK Jockey Club program at Sha Tin Racecourse. The Cup, Mile and Sprint are the local preps for the equivalent events on the Longines Hong Kong International Races card Dec. 8 at Sha Tin Racecourse.
Romantic Warrior added victories in the Group 1 Cox Plate in Australia and Grade 1 Yasuda Kinen in Japan to three local wins during the 2023-24 season. He’s already won the Hong Kong Cup twice and another win there in December would push his career earnings past the record currently held by Golden Sixty.
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It also may further hints he could take a swing at the big dirt races in Saudi Arabia and Dubai early in 2025.
Ka Ying Rising looks to cement his status as the premier local sprinter in the Jockey Club Sprint, while the Jockey Club Mile has several promising contenders.
Australia
There might be a bit of a letdown in star quality after the Carnival heroics, but there’s no shortage of Group 1 competition.
Action continues at Caulfield Saturday with the Group 1 Sportsbet Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes at 1,400 meters and the Group 1 Scheppes Thousand Guineas at 1,600.
They look pretty wide open, but we do note the presence in the Guineas of a Godolphin homebred filly by Exceed and Excel named Zeitung. That’s German for