Romantic Warrior Wins Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup, Jockey James McDonald Makes History

Romantic Warrior added another title to an already storied résumé and jockey James McDonald made history as the pair wrapped up Hong Kong racing’s version of the Triple Crown on Sunday.

The Danny Shum Chap-shing-trained gelding lived up to the second half of his name in a slightly controversial Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup triumph at Sha Tin Racecourse.

Warrior fought hard for the victory, although there were briefly questions as to whether he did so entirely legally, and came through when it mattered most, charging past Numbers late to win by half a length. Japan’s Deep Monster was third.

Adding the final leg to the Stewards’ Cup and Gold Cup victories earlier this season brought a HK$10 million bonus and took Romantic Warrior’s career winnings for owner Peter Lau to HK$288.7 million.

McDonald, meanwhile, is the first jockey to win back-to-back Triple Crown titles, having guided Voyage Bubble to victory last year. Romantic Warrior becomes just the third horse to have achieved the historic feat, with River Verdon winning all three races in the 1993-94 season.

The triumph washed away the disappointment of 2023, when Romantic Warrior was beaten by a nose in the final leg of the Triple Crown, and an almost equally tense finish only served to ratchet up the excitement among spectators already on a high following Zac Purton’s three early winners.