"I THINK HE (ROMANTIC WARRIOR) IS THE TOUGHEST RACEHORSE I HAVE EVER SAT ON" - JAMES MCDONALD

By Darren Winningham | Sunday, December 10, 2023

The HK$36 million LONGINES Hong Kong Cup drew a quality field of horses from around the world, it also managed to congregate the world’s best jockeys as well.
The short-priced favourite was Romantic Warrior trained by Danny Shum and ridden by the 2022 LONGINES World’s Best Jockey – James McDonald.

The other leading contender was Luxembourg, heavily backed to beat the hometown champion, trained by Aidan O’Brien from Ireland and ridden by the newly crowned four-time winner of the LONGINES World’s Best Jockey – Ryan Moore.

What a race it turned out to be!

The result came down to a final stride battle between Romantic Warrior ... all out near the line and still finding something under hands and heels riding from James McDonald ... and, flying down the outside, the Irish invader Luxembourg, under vigorous riding from Ryan Moore.

The two champion jockeys of the current era going stride for stride lifting their mounts to get the best out of them was a marvellous sight to see.

They hit the line seemingly simultaneously, for the moment leaving the question open ... who won?

The massive crowd of 65,252, the largest LONGINES HKIR attendance since 2019, go quiet – not a murmur. Then the number 2 goes up in the frame and the crowd erupts as one.

Romantic Warrior had done it!

Returning to scale James McDonald is pumped, jubilant waving and lifting the crowd whilst the crowd are chanting “JMac, JMac” – a truly wonderful moment that I have witnessed on a racetrack ever!

An ecstatic McDonald said: "I think he's the toughest racehorse I've ever sat on and his courage, his will to win, is just something that I've never felt before. I've ridden some fantastic racehorses - unbelievable ones - and he's right up there. To come back from a Cox Plate, I thought, was going to be a ginormous task.”

Trainer Danny Shum reflected on the win saying, “No matter how he was in trackwork, it's not easy at all, we are lucky that Romantic Warrior is a real warrior."

Romantic Warrior who took his earnings HK$119.7 million dollars, becoming the third horse in Hong Kong racing history to pass the HK$100 million mark.

Trainer Aidan O’Brien said of Luxembourg: "He ran a great race. He was coming and coming and just on the wrong nod and he [Romantic Warrior] came back up on him. But he ran a stormer, Ryan gave him a great ride. He is brave and he tries very hard. He’s not been over-raced, and he is very consistent."

Ryan Moore was brief after the race saying, “He ran a very big race. I was delighted with him.”

The LONGINES Hong Kong Cup was the final feature event on a massive day of racing that saw a record prize money of HK$118 million on offer across the four feature events.

More articles