By Ed Culham
RACING enthusiasts from around the world will have their eyes firmly focused on Sha Tin on Sunday morning when three of the highest-rated horses in the world, according to official world rankings, line up in the £1.2 million Group One Stewards’ Cup (8.05am) over a mile.
Rarely does a blockbuster of a race catch the racing public’s imagination as this one does, with one local trainer saying he hasn’t seen anything like it in the last thirty years.
With the likes of Hong Kong’s pin-up equine celebrity Golden Sixty, winner of 22 of his 26 starts, up against two potential world champs, Romantic Warrior and California Spangle, this is definitely a race to savour.
California Spangle owed a lot to an inspired ride by master tactician Zac Purton when getting the better of Golden Sixty and winning the Group One Hong Kong Mile on International Day back in December.
‘The Spangle’ will surely employ similar tactics on Sunday but, in a field of only seven, he will find both his main rivals sitting closer to the pace than normal and ready to strike when Purton ups the tempo and goes for glory.
Golden Sixty is getting on in years – aged seven now – and can’t be expected to improve further. He did, though, prove his doubters wrong last season and beat California Spangle, who had a fitness and weight advantage, over a mile in November.
The big question about Romantic Warrior, who is a perfect four from four over 10 furlongs, including when demolishing world-class rivals in the Group One Hong Kong Cup in December, is will he still be a force dropping down in trip?
Personally, Danny Shum’s galloper ROMANTIC WARRIOR looks destined to become one of the all-time greats in racing and, having won the Hong Kong Classic Mile on his only start over the distance, can prove he is the real deal on Sunday.
POINTERS
Romantic Warrior 8.05am Sha Tin
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