Australia: Romantic Warrior nabs first Australian win in Cox Plate

Romantic Warrior, the Irish-bred gelding who became a multiple stakes winner in Hong Kong in recent years, won for the first time in Australia in Saturday’s Group 1 Cox Plate at Moonee Valley Racecourse in Melbourne.

While the Group 1 Melbourne Cup, a handicap that will be run on Nov. 7, is Australia’s most famous race, the Cox Plate is the nation’s leading weight-for-age race at 1 1/4 miles.

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Sent off favored in American pools, Romantic Warrior, ridden by top Australian jockey James McDonald, closed from fourth to win by a nose over 7-1 Mr Brightside, who finished a little more than a head in front of 5-1 Alligator Blood in the field of 12.

A 6-year-old gelding by the British-bred sire Acclamation, Romantic Warrior paid $6. He took the lead in the final strides to secure the win, his fourth in a Group 1 race.

Romantic Warrior had his second start in Australia on Saturday. He finished fourth in the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes at Flemington on Oct. 7 behind Gold Trip, the winner of the 2022 Melbourne Cup. Gold Trip could only fifth in the Cox Plate on Saturday, beaten 1 1/2 lengths.

Romantic Warrior, trained by Danny Shum, has won 11 of 16 starts, including the last two runnings of the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Sha Tin in Hong Kong in 2022 and in April of this year, and the Group 1 Hong Kong Cup at Sha Tin last December. Those races were all run at 1 1/4 miles.

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