Danny Shum Chap-shing hailed his “small but strong team” as Romantic Warrior began his path towards the Triple Crown with a scintillating performance to win the Group One Stewards’ Cup (1,600m) at Sha Tin on Sunday.

Dropping back to the mile for the first time since winning the 2024 Yasuda Kinen was no problem for the globetrotting sensation, who made a mockery of his rivals after a tactical masterclass by jockey James McDonald.

Breaking from stall seven, Romantic Warrior was held out four wide for much of the back straight, but with a lack of pace up top, McDonald made the decision to sweep into second just before the turn and it could easily be called the race-winning move in hindsight.

Getting to the girth of leader Lucky Sweynesse off the turn, the world’s highest-earning racehorse quickly brushed off a short-lived outside challenge from Voyage Bubble and quickened on impressively to defeat Lucky Sweynesse by a length and three-quarters.

It is now full steam ahead to the second leg of the Triple Crown, the Group One Gold Cup (2,000m) on March 1 and Shum was full of gratitude to his whole team as his superstar began his march towards more history.

“I feel very happy, I’m so proud of Romantic Warrior. I also need to take this opportunity to thank my stable team, of course jockey J-Mac, and the owner Peter [Lau Pak-fai]. It’s a small but strong team we have,” said Shum.

“He can handle 1,600m, 2,000m and even 2,400m. He can handle any distance. I always have confidence in him and the jockey James as well.

“2,000m is his best trip, so there’s no problem there. We’ll just keep him happy and keep him healthy. It’s a really easy job for me.”

McDonald has been on board Romantic Warrior for all bar one of his Group One successes and the pair have built into a formidable force over the years, with only one of their 17 starts together seeing them finish outside the top two.

It was another race to savour for the Kiwi jockey, who was full of praise for both the horse and Shum’s team after another performance that oozed class and took his record to 21 wins from 28 career starts.

“It was incredible, I say it every time that when he steps out it’s a privilege to ride him. I can’t thank Danny and his team enough for preparing him in such pristine order and he runs his best race every time. It goes without saying that you need a proper team behind him,” said McDonald.

“It was a pretty messy race, he began really well and I thought it was going to be a pretty smooth run, but there were a few that kicked up which was a surprise. He was always in a good rhythm and I suppose gate seven gave us the chance to not force our hand and wait till it all settled down.

“I knew Voyage Bubble was three-deep and wasn’t going to give him a cut.”

Lucky Sweynesse ran an enormous race on his first start over the mile to finish second for Manfred Man Ka-leung and Derek Leung Ka-chun, while Voyage Bubble was slightly disappointing in third.

The runner-up finish opens up plenty more options for the Group One winner Lucky Sweynesse.

“I can’t complain, it was a super run. It was a fast tempo and he has a big stride. He only got beat by the champion horse – I think I won already,” said Leung.