Romantic Warrior happy, Ben So hoarse after amazing Cox Plate day: ‘everything is fine except for my voice’
It seems Group One Cox Plate (2,040m) hero Romantic Warrior has pulled up better than his assistant trainer Ben So Tik-hung, who maintains it was his screaming on track rather than any late-night festivities that has left him hoarse in the aftermath of a remarkable Saturday at Moonee Valley.
The first Hong Kong winner of Australasia’s unofficial weight-for-age championship, Romantic Warrior had just about everything but the kitchen sink thrown at him in the past couple of months, but So is confident the four-time Group One winner has come out the other side in fine fettle.
“We walked him this morning, and I don’t think he is really tired. He’s happy. He’s really amazing. I’m still so excited,” So told the Post from Werribee International Horse Centre.
“Romantic Warrior is all right. Everything is fine except for my voice. I screamed a lot. It was a really amazing day.”
Connections celebrated their historic success at Melbourne’s Crown casino, with So dining with owner Peter Lau Pak-fai, trainer Danny Shum Chap-shing and their families before making a quick visit to the betting tables.
“We went for dinner with Danny and the owner last night. After that, we went to the casino for half an hour, but we were too tired, so we came back to Werribee,” So laughed.
There was no mucking around from Shum, who headed straight to the airport and was on track at Happy Valley on Sunday.
So, Romantic Warrior and his travelling companion, Romantic Charm, fly back to Hong Kong on Monday afternoon, and the horses will be back in their stables at Sha Tin on Tuesday morning.
“About every three hours, we go back to see the horses, give them water and make sure they’re OK,” So said of his duties on the flight home.
Romantic Warrior will spend two weeks in quarantine before turning his attention to defending his crown in December’s Group One Hong Kong Cup (2,000m), with Shum confirming he’s confident his galloper may even have an ounce or two of improvement in him.
“I’m feeling very good. Very happy,” Shum said, revealing he hasn’t completely ruled out running his history-making superstar in the Group Two Jockey Cub Cup (2,000m) on November 19.
“I’m not sure if I should run him in November. Maybe we go straight to December. I’m hopeful he can improve – it all depends on how he travels back. We will see how he goes.”
Plan A for Golden Sixty
There’s also been uncertainty as to whether Golden Sixty will race in November, but it seems connections are more likely to stick with their original plan than resume in the Group Two Jockey Club Mile three weeks from now.
After suggesting during the off-season that Golden Sixty would not race until December’s Group One Hong Kong Mile, trainer Francis Lui Kin-wai put the Jockey Club Mile back on the table after his stable star’s recent trial.
“Golden Sixty will be first up at the international races. He’s getting older, and we didn’t want to run him too much,” Lui said at Happy Valley on Sunday.
If connections do stick with Plan A, Golden Sixty’s first-up run will come more than seven months after his last-start victory in April’s Group One Champions Mile.
HKIR entrants trail home Equinox
To the surprise of absolutely no one, it was an Equinox blitz in the Group One Tenno Sho Autumn (2,000m) at Tokyo on Sunday, but it was those behind the superstar colt who were of more interest to Jockey Club officials.
Nine of Equinox’s 10 vanquished opponents hold entries for December’s Longines Hong Kong International Races (HKIR), with runner-up Justin Palace nominated for the Cup and Group One Hong Kong Vase (2,400m).
Second to Romantic Warrior in the Group One QE II Cup (2,000m) at Sha Tin in April, Prognosis finished third in the Tenno Sho Autumn. He also holds Cup and Vase entries.
The same applies to Danon Beluga, who finished fourth under Joao Moreira, while Justin Palace’s stablemate, Gaia Force, is also a chance to turn his attention to HKIR after finishing fifth.
Exciting import Waipiro sidelined
John Size’s Hong Kong Derby plans with much-hyped British import Waipiro are in tatters after the impressive three-year-old suffered a right fore tendon injury last week.
Brought to Hong Kong by prominent owner Siu Pak-Kwan following his victory in the Group Three Hampton Court Stakes (2,000m), former trainer Ed Walker described Waipiro as the “perfect horse for the Hong Kong Derby”.
“I don’t have a plan now because he’s got a tendon injury. A tendon’s a tendon. The recovery time depends on the horse,” Size said of the uncertainty ahead for the Group One Epsom Derby (2,400m) sixth placegetter.
