Japan: Romantic Warrior's win streak at five after Yasuda Kinen Stakes

Australia, Hong Kong or Japan, it does not matter. Romantic Warrior has won Group 1 or Grade 1 races in those countries in a five-race winning streak since October.

On Sunday, Romantic Warrior won the Grade 1 Yasuda Kinen Stakes at a mile on turf at Tokyo Racecourse in his first start in Japan. With the win, Romantic Warrior earned a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Del Mar on Nov. 2.

But after Sunday’s race, trainer Danny Shum said Romantic Warrior will not race again in the near future. The current season in Hong Kong, where Shum is based, runs through mid-July.

“After discussing with the owner, we have decided that the horse should be given a rest and won’t race anymore this season,” said Shum.

The five-race winning streak consists of the Group 1 Cox Plate in Australia last October, and three Group 1 races at Sha Tin in Hong Kong – the Hong Kong Cup in December, the Hong Kong Gold Cup in February and the Queen Elizabeth II Cup in April.

Sent off favored in the $2.2 million Yasuda Kinen, Romantic Warrior (who paid $3.90 in American pools) closed from sixth and worked his way through traffic in early stretch before taking the lead with a furlong remaining.

Ridden by top Australian jockey James McDonald, Romantic Warrior won by a half-length over Namur, a 5-year-old mare who won the Grade 1 Mile Championship in Japan last November, and was second by a nose in the Group 1 Dubai Turf at Meydan Racecourse in the United Arab Emirates in March.

Soul Rush, a Grade 2 winner at a mile in Japan in April, finished third in the field of 18, a nose behind Namur.

Romantic Warrior lacked racing room briefly with a quarter-mile remaining before McDonald moved the 6-year-old gelding into contention between rivals.

“We had a plan of being in the first half of the field,” McDonald told Japan Racing Association publicity. “He enabled us to sit in a very comfortable position throughout.

“Before the start he was a bit fresh and above himself, so I felt that he was definitely on the job, and as always he was there when I asked him for a supreme effort.

“Once he hit the front, it was going to have to be a good horse to pass him because there’s not many who can go past him when he’s in full flight with a furlong to go.”

An Irish-bred by Acclamation, Romantic Warrior has won 16 of 21 starts, including eight Group 1 or Grade 1 races. He finished fourth in the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne last October in his first of two starts in Australia that month.

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