![\"Romantic](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Lau-1024x719.jpg\")
JAMES McDONALD, PETER LAU \/ G1 Cox Plate \/\/ Moonee Valley Racecourse \/\/\/ 2023 \/\/\/\/ Photo by Vince Caligiuri<\/p>\nPETER LAU knows the most incredible journey doesn\u2019t have long left to run. Romantic Warrior has taken the veteran owner to heights he could not even have dreamed about as a young boy watching Happy Valley races on TV with his grandfather and his civil servant father Lau King-ming, in the Causeway Bay apartment he grew up in. But the champion is rising nine years old and age will bring retirement soon.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before that happens, Lau\u2019s hope is for an incredible fifth win for the Danny Shum-trained star in the G1 Hong Kong Cup in December, and then, perhaps, one final dance on the dirt, in the G1 Saudi Cup, the race that got away.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the dream. But a Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) press release issued late in the day, at 7:20pm Tuesday, served as a sharp reminder that a racehorse\u2019s career is always one false step, one sports injury away from being over. HKJC\u2019s screening, using unspecified imaging equipment, \u201crevealed a change in one of the horse\u2019s joints that requires further detailed assessment by the veterinary team.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The completion of that assessment will have to wait a short while, until the return to Hong Kong of the man who expertly operated on Romantic Warrior in May 2025 \u2013 inserting a screw in his near-fore fetlock \u2013 a procedure which enabled the horse to continue through an unbeaten Triple Crown-winning campaign last season.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe shall wait for Dr. Lawrence Chan to come back from his holiday next week to do the detailed assessment before giving a clear announcement,\u201d Lau told Idol Horse.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Retirement was already on the not-too-far horizon for the eight-year-old, but that horizon could arrive sooner than anyone had hoped. When it does come, Lau must decide where one of the sport\u2019s all-time greats will live and who will care for him. It might well be his jockey, James McDonald.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth he and his wife, and his two daughters, are all crazy about the horse, they have a farm in Australia,\u201d Lau said, but revealed he still has a decision to make on that front.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe original plan was to retire him at the farm in Ireland where he was born, and actually the owner there requested me a few years ago and I already said okay at the time. But now both the owner and the rider have expressed serious interest to keep the horse after retirement. So, now I should listen more to how, where and what they all intend to do to keep the horse before I make a final decision. This is the latest development.\u201d<\/p>\n
Romantic Warrior was bred and raised at David and James Egan\u2019s Corduff Stud in Ireland before Mick Kinane bought him on behalf of HKJC for resale at the Hong Kong International Sale, where Lau bought him for HK$4.8 million.<\/p>\n
It was far and away the best purchase Lau has made as a racehorse owner: Romantic Warrior\u2019s record of 24 wins from 31 races includes victory in the Hong Kong Derby, every Hong Kong owner\u2019s holy grail, as well as those four Hong Kong Cups; his home record alone puts him in the \u2018legend\u2019 category. But then there are his three brilliant offshore wins, the G1 Cox Plate in Australia, G1 Yasuda Kinen in Japan, G1 Jebel Hatta in Dubai, plus his epic second in the Saudi Cup.<\/p>\n
JAMES McDONALD, PETER LAU \/ G1 Cox Plate \/\/ Moonee Valley Racecourse \/\/\/ 2023 \/\/\/\/ Photo by Vince Caligiuri<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/rwhkcup3-1024x683.jpg\")
ROMANTIC WARRIOR, JAMES McDONALD \/ G1 Hong Kong Cup \/\/ Sha Tin \/\/\/ 2024 \/\/\/\/ Photo by Shuhei Okada<\/p>\n
Lau never had it so good as an owner, not even close. That meant, despite the money he paid for the unraced gelding back in 2021, his hopes were tempered by realism when Romantic Warrior debuted under Joao Moreira as the second-favourite in a 1200m Class 4 handicap at Happy Valley in October of that year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you study the history of my horse ownership before Romantic Warrior appeared, you will understand that there was not much anticipation,\u201d Lau said. \u201cMy first two horses ran a total of fifty races, and I got myself one winner. So, at that time, racing in gate twelve at Happy Valley, I had almost no expectation. I\u2019d have been happy to get prize money at that time.\u201d<\/p>\n
The gelding collected his winner\u2019s share of the HK$1,040,000 purse that night, and those earnings have since swelled to HK$288,745,697. He is the highest earner, globally, in the sport\u2019s history and the memories that have been formed through that journey are remarkable.<\/p>\n
\u201cBetween then and now, the happiness, the pride and the memories he has given me already exceed ten times my wildest expectations,\u201d Lau said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Among those memories is the day Romantic Warrior won the coveted Hong Kong Derby. It was March 2022, the gelding\u2019s seventh race: he had won five of the previous six, including the Hong Kong Classic Mile, but had placed only fourth in the Hong Kong Classic Cup at his latest start. It was also deep in the dark days of COVID, when Hong Kong was still under government-required pandemic restrictions on the movement of people and of gathering together.<\/p>\n
Those measures were even stricter at times within the HKJC sphere as the Club worked with great caution to keep racing going. When Derby day came around, only persons vital to the operation of the race meeting were allowed on course. No fans, no owners.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to watch the Derby on TV at home, I had no choice because not one person was allowed to go at that time. Winning it is good, but after your horse crosses the line, you find you are in your pyjamas,\u201d he laughed. \u201cThat\u2019s not like in the racecourse of course, but anyhow, I was still happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
But it is that unusual experience which drives him to want a second Derby success, one he can witness in person and celebrate publicly.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cA Derby win is always a very precious one for an owner because a horse can only try once in their career and I\u2019m lucky enough to be one of those owners. But I\u2019m unlucky enough to be the only winning owner in Hong Kong history that has no winning photo, no award presentation, not even one fan in the audience in the stand because of the COVID situation at that time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, I definitely do want to win it again and I want it badly. So that is still a driving force to fulfill my ongoing ambitions. I want to give it a go again.\u201d<\/p>\n
To that end, he seeks out Derby prospects each year, usually through spring and summer, when his bloodstock advisor, Eric Sze, sources potential purchases through his network. They don\u2019t come cheaply \u2013 seven figures sterling is the rate for a proven Group-class prospect out of Europe \u2013 and they don\u2019t always work out.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe go back and forth very constantly, but we do have a strategy and it is always pointing in the direction of getting a Derby horse,\u201d Lau said. \u201cThe pedigree should have some long distance influence from the dam side or sire and preferably from the northern hemisphere because in Hong Kong history, there are not many good long distance southern hemisphere horses, I think.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd he should have racing experience, from two to five races at the middle distance or longer: if it\u2019s five races, then at least one of those should be a Listed or Group race and they must have done well in that. And last but not least, my motto about horse racing is that I do not mind buying the right horse at the wrong price. It is much better than buying a mediocre horse at the right price. That\u2019s my strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lau made a big bid for recent Goodwood Group 2 winner Dr Rascal, which was not accepted.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the way: if it\u2019s too easy, sometimes, I worry,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s usual that a good one, a lot of people are going after that horse, but we have to try.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have three horses now: one of those, Romantic Thor, was fourth in the Champions and Chater Cup; Romantic Gladiator will be my Derby dream, my Derby hope in the coming season. And, actually, I have a ballot in hand, so we made an offer of seven figures just a few weeks ago, but still got knocked back. They decided to give it a go at Goodwood and they were right.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Idol Horse spoke to Lau two years ago, he singled out the Yasuda Kinen victory in Japan as his highlight. But much has happened since then.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is difficult to single out one particular race,\u201d he said. \u201cThe most dramatic win is certainly the Cox Plate because the roller coaster move from what looked like losing to winning within the twenty seconds of the photo finish, is just as dramatic as it can get.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the most exciting one is the Jebel Hatta in Dubai. He came from ten lengths back and won by four lengths. That was exciting. And the most happy one is the Yasuda Kinen in Tokyo, when under heavy rain, we received thundering cheers from hundreds of Hong Kong fans and also tens of thousands of Japanese fans.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the win which we are most proud of is the Hong Kong Cup, the first time, against a very strong international field. We won by four lengths. So these are the few which touch my feelings the most.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Romantic](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/240602T11OK035-1024x683.jpg\")
JAMES McDONALD, ROMANTIC WARRIOR \/ G1 Yasuda Kinen \/\/ Tokyo \/\/\/ 2024 \/\/\/\/ Photo by Shuhei Okada<\/p>\n
![\"Romantic](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/yasudalau-1024x683.jpg\")
DANNY SHUM, JAMES McDONALD, PETER LAU \/ G1 Yasuda Kinen \/\/ Tokyo Racecourse \/\/\/ 2024 \/\/\/\/ Photo by Shuhei Okada<\/p>\n
That first Hong Kong Cup win in 2022, defeating Japanese Group 1 stars Danon The Kid, Geoglyph, Jack D\u2019Or, Lei Papale and Panthalassa, is the race that had Lau thinking he had a horse that was something particularly special.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI said wow, well maybe this is going to be one of the all-time greats. I started thinking about that around that time.\u201d<\/p>\n
He has since gone on to prove it. Lau drops the name of another all-time great, the fantastic American gelding John Henry, a two-time Horse of the Year in the U.S., winner of 39 of 83 races including two Arlington Millions, a couple of Santa Anita Handicaps and the Jockey Club Gold Cup, whose second Horse of the Year title in 1984 was achieved at age nine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRomantic Warrior is almost nine years old now, so I think win or lose, he\u2019s already in history, but I think given his performance last time and if he\u2019s still keeping his form, I think there is some chance that he can be another John Henry,\u201d Lau said.<\/p>\n
Different places, different times, both incredible champions, and that\u2019s the level at which Romantic Warrior should be remembered whenever his career does conclude.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we talk about legacy, Romantic Warrior has won races from 1200 metres to 2400 metres,\u201d Lau observed. \u201cHe has won Group 1 races in four Group 1 jurisdictions;\u00a0started winning when he was three and he did not stop winning when he\u2019s almost nine. And of course, the prize money legacy: his earnings are now US$37 million and counting, that\u2019s more than the Australian legend Winx.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think actually we should have someone from the Guinness Book of World Records to count his legacy,\u201d he said with humour.<\/p>\n
So, with the temporary uncertainty around the true nature of what Romantic Warrior\u2019s scan means for his career, Lau can only wait and hope that the dream is not yet over. But if it is, he knows the horse has already given him far more than the young boy in Causeway Bay could have imagined.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just enjoy my present moment with him now, one race by one race,\u201d Lau added. \u201cAnd even if he retired tomorrow, I would consider myself the luckiest and happiest owner in the world. That\u2019s my feeling now.\u201d \u220e<\/p>\n
![\"Dr](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Dr-Rascal-crop-1024x732.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
David Morgan<\/p>\n
Hong Kong\u2019s Calling But Not Everything\u2019s For Sale In The Derby Quest<\/p>\n
![\"James](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/James-and-Bart-Cummings-illo-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/p>\n