Romantic Thor is preparing for his sternest test to date as he steps into Group 1 company for the first time in the HK$13 million Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup (2400m) at Sha Tin on Sunday (24 May), but rider Zac Purton is refusing to rule him out completely.

Following his biggest win to date over the course and distance in the G3 Queen Mother Memorial Cup Handicap (2400m) earlier this month, the Danny Shum-trained gelding enters the contest as a proven stayer.

Sha Tin Selections
(Sunday, May 24, 2026)

The Hong Kong racing season is well into its final quarter, and while there’s plenty on the line between now and the concluding meeting on 15 July, it’s the mouthwatering battle for the trainers’ championship that continues to take centre stage.

Half a dozen trainers are still in with a legitimate chance of prevailing with 15 meetings remaining in the 2025/26 season, and while four of them have tasted the ultimate success, Danny Shum is one handler looking to claim the title for the first time.

By Dick Powell

At the start of the 2025-26 Hong Kong Racing Season, Romantic Warrior was hardly on anyone’s radar. After a grueling campaign the season before, when he raced in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and then, back to the UAE, he came home and had surgery on his left fore fetlock on May 21, 2025. 

By Mariko Seki

The HK$13 million G1 Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup (2400m) at Sha Tin on Sunday (24 May) will centre around the performance of overwhelming favourite Romantic Warrior – Hong Kong racing’s superstar.

By Declan Schuster

Frankie Lor is optimistic that implementing new tactics for Numbers can help the BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) runner-up go to another level in Sunday’s (24 May) HK$13 million G1 Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup (2400m) at Sha Tin.

Aiming to unlock more of the bull-headed four-year-old’s potential, Lor is hopeful the gelding, whose bodyweight exceeds 1,200lb, doesn’t always have to race at the head of the field and that an alternative racing pattern could add another layer to his development.

Happy Valley Selections
(Wednesday, May 20, 2026)

Embroidery, Japan’s champion 3-year-old filly of 2025, is thriving as a 4-year-old.

On Sunday, Embroidery won her third Grade 1 race in the $1.83 million Victoria Mile for fillies and mares at Tokyo Racecourse. The win gave Embroidery a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Keeneland on Oct. 31.

By Paul Ryding

No rider will be busier than Andrea Atzeni at Sunday’s (17 May) Sha Tin meeting when the Italian takes 10 rides as he closes in on his best-ever Hong Kong season.

Atzeni, who reached a century of Sha Tin successes earlier this month, currently has 54 winners for the season and sits third in the jockeys’ rankings behind Australian Hugh Bowman, who has 56 wins this term. Zac Purton is the distant leader with 114 wins.