City Of Troy and Laurel River may top the ratings but this underrated star is one we should all be championing
Weekender columnist Maddy Playle with her take on the week's action
![Romantic Warrior: completed a Hong Kong Cup hat-trick](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fs3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com%2Fprod-media-racingpost%2Fprod%2Fimages%2F169_1008%2Fd1869a9c41d3-romanticwarrior.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
We may be in the heat of the jumps season, but the World’s Best Racehorse award was given out at a ceremony at the Savoy last Tuesday.
It should have been renamed the World’s Best Racehorses award in this instance because there were joint-winners in European star City Of Troy and Dubai World Cup winner Laurel River.
The ratings are based on the performances of horses throughout the season, with both the quality of opposition and achievements of each horse graded at differing intervals.
Decisions around ratings like this are always bound to stir debate, which is always interesting to observe, and this particular result seemed to make sense in a certain context.
However, Meydan’s card three days later summed up my feelings on the wider topic.
That’s because it saw Laurel River, winner of a single Group 1, beaten at 4-11 in a Group 3, while an hour and 45 minutes later Romantic Warrior strolled home in stunning style to win his tenth Group 1.
![King Gold (near): stays on best to beat Laurel River (far)](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fs3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com%2Fprod-media-racingpost%2Fprod%2Fimages%2F169_1008%2F72fdcf3ab8cc-king-gold-4.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
Now a winner of major races in his homeland Hong Kong, Australia, Japan and the Middle East, Romantic Warrior is without doubt the most underrated horse I have come across.
If you are not yet familiar with his dazzling and diverse profile, let me put some flesh on the bones of his form and highlight some of his finest achievements.
A three-time winner over six furlongs, just a neck and Russian Emperor stood between him and a Group 1 victory over a mile and a half in the Champions & Chater Cup in May 2023.
Last year he broke two records at home in becoming a triple winner of both the QEII and Hong Kong Cups, races in which the world's best are invited to compete over ten furlongs.
His name is also on the Cox Plate over the same distance, which is regularly regarded as one of the finest contests in the world, as well as Japan’s premier mile race the Yasuda Kinen.
It is no surprise he is the highest-earning racehorse of all time. Moreover, by my reckoning he has beaten 40 individual Group 1 winners – the winners of 86 Group 1s – during a stunning 23-race career.
While measuring different horses by different metrics can easily throw up a variety of results, there is no doubt in my mind Romantic Warrior is one of the finest athletes we have seen on the track in recent years.
![Romantic Warrior (second from left) fends off Luxembourg (right) in the Hong Kong Cup](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fs3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com%2Fprod-media-racingpost%2Fprod%2Fimages%2F169_1008%2Fccdbcac04baa-rpxshattin10dec23ew36.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
To put it simply: he is able to do it with style, as a peak Racing Post Rating of 127 suggests, but he is the king of substance. He has repeatedly proved his ability, with pleasing variations in jurisdiction, surface, trip and opposition.
While many are capable of putting in superior performances on the clock in isolation, I think it is horses like him we should be celebrating.
Part of that is due to the sportsmanship and thirst for adventure displayed by his connections – as well as their own talent – and those traits will once again be to the fore on February 22 if he tackles the Saudi Cup.
There he will be tested against Laurel River and will bid to do something City Of Troy couldn’t – successfully transfer his talent to dirt, a surface he has only ever trialled on in Hong Kong. The Dubai World Cup could follow on April 5.
While I expect the Dubai Turf on the same evening to suit him better, we are lucky to be witnessing such a unique attempt at greatness. I can’t wait.
Trials day eyecatcher
The Triumph Trial, Cotswold Chase, Unibet and Cleeve Hurdles produced Cheltenham Festivals trials of varying relevance on Saturday, but one horse caught my eye more than any other – and he contested a handicap.
Masaccio has been on my radar for the Ultima Handicap Chase – sponsored by his part-owners the McNeill family – since he finished third in the Kauto Star Novices' Chase on Boxing Day, and this was another positive performance with that target in mind.
He looked to get outpaced rather than outstayed at Kempton and he has some top novice form to his name behind the likes of The Jukebox Man and Hyland.
Saturday's 2m4½f handicap chase was a competitive affair and, although he possesses a speedy pedigree featuring the Breeders' Cup Classic winner Arcangues in it, Masaccio seemed to again suggest a staying trip would be his bag.
He lost his pitch briefly before staying on powerfully at the finish to be third and, pending a reasonable reaction from the handicapper, will surely be in with a good chance come March. The 16-1 is sitting temptingly in my bet slip as we speak.
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Published on inMaddy Playle
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