They came, they saw, they conquered.
First it was Fairy King Prawn in 2000, then Bullish Luck in 2006, and, on Sunday at Tokyo Racecourse, Romantic Warrior handed Hong Kong its third win of the Grade 1 Yasuda Kinen.
Victory was swift and decisive, with combat lasting only 1 minute, 32.3 seconds in the 74th running of the 1,600-meter test over turf. Romantic Warrior clinched the ¥180 million winner’s prize just half a length ahead of fourth-choice Namur (one of two fillies in the field of 18 runners). Behind Namur in third by a mere nose was the race’s second pick, Soul Rush.