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History was made and reputations enhanced in a glittering display of racing at Sha Tin when Hong Kong’s finest fought it out for glory in three Group 1 races worth a total of HK$65 million at FWD Champions Day on Sunday (24 April).
Romantic Warrior surged into history with another remarkable performance and capped an unlikely ascent from obscurity to stardom for Danny Shum and Karis Teetan with a stunning HK$25 million G1 FWD QEII Cup (2000m) victory.
Golden Sixty now stands alone as the highest prize money earner in Hong Kong racing history after the faultless defence of his HK$20 million G1 FWD Champions Mile (1600m).
In the opening Group 1, Wellington joined one of the most select clubs in Hong Kong racing’s fabled speed division when running out a dominant winner of the HK$20 million Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1200m) under Alexis Badel.


Already with a bank of HK113,400,600 – bolstered by HK$11.4 million for Sunday’s win – Golden Sixty holds a nomination for the 5 June G1 Yasuda Kinen (1600m) at Tokyo which carries prizemoney of  USD$3.38 million and a winner’s cheque of USD$1.56 million.
Surpassing the mantle of HK$106,233,750 previously held by Beauty Generation, the victory was another triumph for jockey Vincent Ho and trainer Francis Lui.
 
Ho described Golden Sixty eloquently post-race: “He’s one in a lifetime.” 
 
Lui said the trip to Japan would depend on the Golden Sixty’s recovery from the race and if there were no issues, along with quarantine, the horse would attempt to join Fairy King Prawn (2000) and Bullish Luck (2006) as the only two Hong Kong-trained horses to have won the Yasuda Kinen.
 
Ho, 31, relished his third consecutive FWD Champions Mile triumph after previously succeeding aboard Southern Legend (2020) and Golden Sixty (2021).

Romantic Warrior joined Werther (2016), Designs On Rome (2014), Ambitious Dragon (2011) and Vengeance Of Rain (2005) in completing the Hong Kong Derby-QEII Cup double.
 
Selected by former Irish champion jockey Michael Kinane from the 2019 Tattersalls Sale at Newmarket on behalf of The Hong Kong Jockey Club, Romantic Warrior was purchased by owner Peter Lau for HK$4.8 million at the 2021 Hong Kong International Sale.
 
With his seventh victory, the son of Acclamation boosted his prize money earnings to an imposing HK$39.96 million – a figure bolstered by a top-up bonus of HK$900,000 for his latest conquest, a scintillating two-length success over Tourbillon Diamond and Panfield in 2m 00.13s.
 
Cosseted away from trouble in fourth place behind a stop-start tempo to the 800m mark, Romantic Warrior angled into clear running in the straight and was never seriously challenged, powering over the final 400m in 22.62s to seal a wondrous first-season.

Richard Gibson’s powerful gelding Wellington, who captured the coveted prize with a striking turn of foot in 2021, was bidding to join Mr Vitality, Fairy King Prawn, Silent Witness, Sacred Kingdom, Dim Sum and Lucky Nine as a dual winner of Hong Kong’s final G1 dash of the season in recent years.
 
Only Mr Vitality, Silent Witness and Lucky Nine had landed the prize in successive years since 1995 but Wellington emulated them with a clinical performance which left Badel beaming and Gibson hailing “equine brilliance.”
   
“He really is one of the top sprinters in the world,” Gibson said.
 It was also a special day for Zac Purton and four-time champion trainer Caspar Fownes. 
Purton became only the second jockey to ride 1,400 winners in Hong Kong, after Douglas Whyte (1,813), when Tony Cruz’s Beauty Joy won the Class 2 Bullish Luck Handicap (1600m).
Fownes became only the fourth horseman in Hong Kong history to saddle 1,000 winners when Lucky Quality prevailed in the first section of the Class 4 Oriental Express Handicap (1200m) under Alfred Chan.
 
Referring to the overall success of the day, The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Chief Executive Officer Mr Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges said: “Today was FWD Champions Day and it really was a day of champions, it was the day when records were broken and a day of great excitement because our owners were able to return to the track.
“Even though we had only just over 1,000 owners and guests, it sometimes felt like 10,000 because of the vibrancy of the day. It has been a wonderful day.
 
“Today was really the day when champions were at their best and, with the support of our sponsor FWD, I would describe the day as a great success and a restart of the vibrancy of Hong Kong racing with it no longer being staged behind closed doors.
 
“We have seen world-class performances from Golden Sixty in the FWD Champions Mile, Wellington in the Chairman’s Sprint Prize and the remarkable performance of Romantic Warrior in the FWD QEII Cup.
 
“I would like to thank the Hong Kong Government for allowing us to keep racing and also for giving us permission to have owners back at the track today. We look forward to being able to welcome back our members and members of the public to join us at the track.”
 


World class performances dominate FWD Champions Day at Sha Tin

Ho, Lui welcome perfect FWD Champions Mile draw as Golden Sixty chases history

FWD Champions Day shapes as highlight of Hong Kong Racing season

FWD Champions Day

The Hong Kong Jockey Club

Golden Sixty stands alone as the highest prize money earner in Hong Kong racing history.

Karis Teetan jubilates in Romantic Warrior’s G1 victory.

Wellington lands back-to-back wins in the Chairman’s Sprint Prize under Alexis Badel.

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