Stars align as Romantic Warrior and Ka Ying Rising deliver at Hong Kong International Races

Get me to Sha Tin on time as global stars make their vows

A young woman in full flowing ivory bridal gown and veil uses her Octopus card to leave the barrier at Wan Chai MTR station without anyone batting an eyelid and you absolutely know you’re not in Kansas anymore.

The fact that it’s 10.30 on a golden Sunday morning suggests she’s heading to rather than from the altar provides a reminder that there are bigger things going on than a race meeting.

But not many. Not many at all.

The LONGINES Hong Kong International Races command the racing world’s attention on the second Sunday in December and, for the first time since covid crept in, the global stars are here in force.

The Aussies are back with last year’s Melbourne Cup hero Without A Fight and high-class miler Antino, while Japan are rolling in heavy with a powerful team headed by A Listers like Liberty Island and Soul Rush.

France and Ireland are represented by G1 winners like Lazzat and Luxembourg and the Brits are looking to end a twelve-year HKIR drought with high-class horses headed by Giavellotto, Dubai Honour, Starlust and Spirit Dancer for Fergie and dem boys.

The half mile walk from Fo Tan station is thronged with punters and so what if a few value seekers perform an instant U-Turn once they use their free admission voucher to get through the turnstile and receive a free cap?

Sha Tin’s enclosures are bouncing, boosted by 8,000 visitors from the Chinese Mainland and a group of Gweilo lads in Peaky Blinders gear doing a roaring trade in selfies with giggling local gals.

And then gates fly for the first of ten at 12.30.

Andrea Atzeni snags the opener with a strong drive on Francis Lui’s Happy Park but the main action starts 6.10 GMT with the £2.4m Hong Kong Vase.

Javelin launches to end British HKIR drought

And the lads of the Hong Kong Post Office Band belt out the British national anthem for the first time in a dozen years as GIAVELLOTTO – trained by a proud Italian and ridden by a supremely confident Irishman – blows a high-class field away at the end of a slowly-run race.

Marco Botti had been urged to come to HK by Oisin Murphy after Giavellotto’s third in the Irish Leger and the chestnut duly blossoms in the Sha Tin sun to secure the first G1 success of his career.

On the naughty step for so long after various midemeanours, Murphy has paid his dues and this success – worth the thick end of £1.4m to the winner – certainly won’t do his chances of being offered a short-term HK contract any harm.

My thanks go out to Atzeni for confirming that Giavellotto means javelin in Italian, so insert your own ‘hit the target’ pun.

And, thanks to a decent recommendation in Saturday’s HKIR File, the winner has ensured that this week’s heavy shopping expenses are soldi in banca (or money in the bank).

Rising and Bubble flying high

Next up are the Sprint and Vase and HK punters pile into local heroes KA YING RISING and VOYAGE BUBBLE like there’s no settling day.

And there isn’t.

Dubbed the world’s best sprinter ahead of his first G1 start, Ka Ying Rising goes off at a Frankel-type price (1.1) but looks more like the St James’s Palace version of that peerless horse, holding on by just half a length as old rival Helios Express came charging late.

Zac Purton is adamant that being pestered by Victor The Winner from an early stage mean that we didn’t see the very best of David Hayes’s gelding but we certainly see the best of VOYAGE BUBBLE and James McDonald in the Mile.

Ricky Yiu’s gelding is metronomic in his ability to find the right tactical spot in big races and he settles things with a decisive kick from over 200m out, holding on gamely as Soul Rush comes from well back for second.

The Bubble’s place in HKIR history is now assured but those with longer memories will recall that he and Soul Rush were mere panting pursuers in second and fourth as Golden Sixty launched on this day last year – what a horse he was.

Warrior stakes a claim to world champ status as J-Mac slots the conversion

There are certain days when the script runs so perfectly that you think it can’t possibly conclude with the Hollywood ending.

But this isn’t one of those days.

ROMANIC WARRIOR stalks, pounces and roars clear, with McDonald saluting the packed grandstands and proud Kiwi J-Mac delivers the perfect payoff line (again) by saying that “it was like lining up the winning kick for the All Blacks."

Five minutes after a champion becomes the first horse to win three HK Cups isn’t the best time to argue over numbers – but let’s give it a go.

Laurel River is currently top of the World’s Best Racehorse Rankings on 128 but that form has more holes in it than a chunk of Swiss cheese and he hasn’t been seen since.

Via Sistina and City Of Troy are on 127 but the 122-rated Warrior has just given 4lb to the 121-rated Japanese filly Liberty Island and beat her by a length and a half (value for more), the pair clear of 118-rated Japanese Derby winner Tastiera.

I suspect the elegant bride, assuming she made it to the church on time, will be more concerned with her Romantic Warrior tonight.

But the cool, clear headed Timeform lads will have their say soon enough.

A mark of 127 (or 128) looks perfectly reasonable for a dominant, career defining success from a horse who came to HK because the beady eyes under Mick Kinane’s bushy brows adored him at Newmarket Sales in 2019.

And there isn’t a shred of doubt in my mind that Romantic Warrior – with a Cox Plate, a Yasuda Kinen and five flawless HK majors for the charismatic Danny Shum and the relentless J-Mac - has accomplished more on the international stage than any horse breathing over the last 14 months.

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