Romantic Warrior (middle) winning the 2023 Cox Plate (Image: Racing Photos)
2023 Cox Plate champion Romantic Warrior is set to make his return to racing in November.
The eight-time Group 1 winner from Hong Kong hasn't competed since his triumph in the G1 Yasuda Kinen in June but has remained in light work since his return to Sha Tin and has had three easy gallops this month, as trainer Danny Shum builds him up gradually towards his next campaign.
Shum has revealed that his superstar will be back at the races at Sha Tin on November 17.
"Romantic Warrior is good," Shum told the South China Morning Post.
"He'll have his first-up run over 2000m in November in the Jockey Club Cup."
Romantic Warrior looks set to follow a similar path to the one he went along in 2022, where he saluted first-up in the Jockey Club Cup before obliterating his rivals three weeks later in the G1 Hong Kong Cup under the riding of James McDonald.
While Romantic Warrior won't race again internationally in 2024, Shum is set to head abroad once more with his consistent sprinter Victor The Winner, who will run in the G1 Sprinters Stakes in Japan on September 29.