Romantic Warrior will not be for catching in Sunday’s Group One Champions & Chater Cup (2,400m) at Sha Tin according to the race’s most successful trainer Tony Cruz, but he is still aiming for a slice of prize money with his stayer Gentlemen Legacy.

Cruz has made the final Group One of the Hong Kong season his own since transitioning to the training ranks, winning the race on seven occasions, including four in a row from 2013 to 2016 and a further three times from 2018 to 2020.

Also winning the race as a jockey aboard Makarpura Star in 1995 for trainer John Moore, he captured the race as a trainer for the first time when California Memory screamed home under Matthew Chadwick in 2013.

That victory kicked off an avalanche of success in the race, with Blazing Speed (2014, 2016) and Helene Super Star (2015) continuing his run over the next few years.

Werther stopped his sequence in 2017 when he defeated Blazing Speed, but Cruz was soon back on the winning wagon when the truly one-of-a-kind Pakistan Star – the quirky yet endlessly talented enigma – won his second Group One in a canter, leading home a trifecta in the race for Cruz.

Another superstar soon came off Cruz’s conveyor belt of stayers, with Exultant reeling off back-to-back wins in the race in 2019 and 2020.

His legacy in the race is unmatched, so it is perhaps fitting that the aptly named Gentlemen Legacy is his representative in a renewal that will see Romantic Warrior going for Triple Crown glory.

On ratings, Gentlemen Legacy has 48lb to find on Danny Shum Chap-shing’s global sensation, which Cruz knows is something of an impossible task, no matter how good his record in the race is.

That said, it is not out of the realms of possibility that his son of Showtime, who has recorded a pair of 2,000m wins at Sha Tin this season, could outstay the rest into a place.

He will renew his rivalry with Romantic Thor and Winning Wing from their last-start clash in the Group Three Queen Mother Memorial Cup (2,400m), where he split the aforementioned pair when giving winner Romantic Thor 13lb and getting 6lb from Winning Wing.

It will be a level weights encounter on Sunday and Cruz is hoping the staying power of his charge can see him get into the all-important prize money.

“It’s a race I’ve had a lot of success in, but I have to be honest, I don’t think we can beat Romantic Warrior. He is a superstar and has too much class. We know that my horse stays really well, which is an advantage, but I would be really happy with a place,” Cruz said.

Fresh off a double at Happy Valley on Wednesday, Cruz has a number of strong chances at Sha Tin on Sunday. Beauty Bolt, who contested all three legs of the Classic Series, goes for the Class Three Standard Chartered Global Private Bank Handicap (1,400m) with Zac Purton in the saddle.

Third in the Classic Mile, he had excuses when seventh and 11th in the Classic Cup (1,800m) and Derby (2,000m) respectively, but Cruz is now adamant that a drop in distance can get the best out of the Night Of Thunder galloper.

“I’ve been very happy with him since the Derby, he ran better than the bare results in the Classic Series,” Cruz said.

“I think at this stage, I would call him an out-and-out stayer, and dropping back to the 1,400m trip will really suit him.”

Cruz will also be hoping Gustosisimo, a three-time winner last season who has run some solid races in defeat this campaign, can get back to his best when he drops in grade for the Class Three Standard Chartered Renminbi Business Handicap (1,200m), though he will need to offset a rough barrier of 13.

“He has not been at his very best of late, but I don’t think the ground maybe played to his strengths last time. He is down to a good weight now,” Cruz said.

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