1. The Ladbrokes Cox Plate goes to Hong Kong for the first time as Romantic Warrior wins a thriller James McDonald has been Australia’s best jockey for the last two seasons, but this year he also assumed an assistant trainer role with Danny Shum’s Romantic Warrior, who he had ridden in Hong Kong to great effect. Jmac was an integral part of bringing the Hong Kong superstar over, and when he underperformed in the Turnbull Stakes, only managing 4th, the alarm bells were ringing. The Romantic Warrior team did a remarkable job to improve him in the remaining timeframe they had, and on the big day he was fit enough to win Australia’s Best Race by the barest of margins! In the shadows of the post, it appeared as if Mr Brightisde might have won, but after enjoying the perfect run, Romantic Warrior made a last gasp lunge and McDonald lifted him to victory, becoming the first Hong Kong trained horse to win the Ladbrokes Cox Plate and giving Jmac his second consecutive Cox Plate victory. The 123-rated international returned home and went back-to-back in the Hong Kong Cup, proving his worth again as one of the world’s elite 2000-metre horses.
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