Romantic Warrior in action in Hong Kong weekend horse racing - UPI.com

1 of 2 | Romantic Warrior trains Nov. 4 for his seasonal debut in Sunday’s Group 2 Jockey Club Cup with international goals in mind. Photo courtesy of Hong Kong Jockey Club

Nov. 15 (UPI) — The cream of the weekend horse racing action is in Asia with Japan hosting one of the world’s top milers and Hong Kong’s best, including Romantic Warrior, prepping for December’s influx of top-level turf runners.

Limited action on the North American front is concentrated most on 2-year-olds and the 26th running of the Claiming Crown.

Namur and Soul Rush finished 1-2 in the 2023 Mile Championship. The last time they faced each other, they also finished in that order, but for second and third place behind Hong Kong’s superstar, Romantic Warrior in the Grade 1 Yasuda Kinen.

Both of the Japanese runners are back for Sunday’s renewal of the Grade 1 Mile Championship at Kyoto Racecourse and they have their work cut out of them to avoid once again falling victim to an invader.

This time it’s Charyn, a Roger Varian-trained 4-year-old who is getting mentions for Horse of the Year after his October victory in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on Champions Day at Ascot. That was his third top-level win of the year to go with two other victories and two seconds.

There are others in the local field who could figure. Serifos won the 2022 Mile Championship and gives it another go. Brede Weg, the 2023 QE II Cup winner, comes off a victory in a Group 2 event at Tokyo Racecourse following nearly a year on the sidelines.

Romantic Warrior is the star of the three Group 2 races comprising Sunday’s BOCHK Jockey Club program at Sha Tin Racecourse. The Cup, Mile and Sprint are the local preps for the equivalent events on the Longines Hong Kong International Races card Dec. 8 at Sha Tin Racecourse.

Romantic Warrior added victories in the Group 1 Cox Plate in Australia and Grade 1 Yasuda Kinen in Japan to three local wins during the 2023-24 season. He’s already won the Hong Kong Cup twice and another win there in December would push his career earnings past the record currently held by Golden Sixty.

It also may further hints he could take a swing at the big dirt races in Saudi Arabia and Dubai early in 2025.

Ka Ying Rising looks to cement his status as the premier local sprinter in the Jockey Club Sprint, while the Jockey Club Mile has several promising contenders.

There might be a bit of a letdown in star quality after the Carnival heroics, but there’s no shortage of Group 1 competition.

Action continues at Caulfield Saturday with the Group 1 Sportsbet Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes at 1,400 meters and the Group 1 Scheppes Thousand Guineas at 1,600.

They look pretty wide open, but we do note the presence in the Guineas of a Godolphin homebred filly by Exceed and Excel named Zeitung. That’s German for “newspaper.” She comes off a Group 3 win a Flemington Nov. 2.

Sunday’s $100,000 Grade III Bob Hope at Del Mar has a field of six. McKinzie Street finished second in the Grade I Del Mar Futurity and third in the Grade I American Pharoah after winning his career debut. This looks easier.

Bob Baffert, after filling up the Breeders’ Cup field, has two — recent maiden winner Kalea Bay and first-timer Madaket Road. The other three also come off maiden scores.

On the turf, Saturday’s $150,000 Central Park has 10 plus a spare to go 1 mile at Aqueduct. It’s a complete tossup with Early Adopter, trainer Chad Brown‘s only runner, as the 3-1 morning-line favorite.

On the state-bred front: Breezy Justice came from next-last to post a 69-1 shocker in Thursday’s $100,000 Indiana Futurity at Horseshoe Indianapolis. Saturday’s $100,000 Notebook at Aqueduct has seven to go 6 furlongs.

Five names were dropped into the entry box for Saturday’s $100,000 Dezi Arnaz at Del Mar, and four of them bore the fingerprints of trainer Baffert.

The other was from former Baffert assistant Tim Yakteen. Tenma, a Nyquist filly, looks the best of the Baffert’s after winning the Grade I Del Mar Debutant and finishing third in the Grade II Oak Leaf. Silent Law is 2-for-2 and won the Anokia Stakes in her last outing. Yakteen’s filly, Practical Dream, was second in the Anoakia.

On the turf, Sunday’s $135,000 Tepin at Aqueduct has an overflow field set for 1 mile.

State-breds: Off Pitch was right on time in Thursday’s $100,000 Miss Indiana at Horseshoe Indianapolis, emerging from a stalking trip to win by 1 length. Also: Sunday’s $100,000 Key Cents at Aqueduct and Saturday’s $85,000 Juvenile Fillies Sprint at Gulfstream Park.

Patches O’Houlihan, the sprint god of Woodbine, is the 4-5 morning-line favorite in Saturday’s $175,000 (Canadian) Grade II Kennedy Road on the Woodbine all-weather course.

No wonder as the 4-year-old gelding has won 11 of 13 starts, all at the Canadian venue. He does have some unfinished business as a fifth-place finish in the 2023 Kennedy Road was one of his flops.

Churchill Downs hosts the 26th edition of the Claiming Crown on Saturday. The eight races, worth a combined $1.1 million in purses, are for horses which started for a specified claiming tag this year or last.

Most racing fans won’t be familiar with the names. But bettors will find very competitive fields averaging 11.8 horses with 24 on also-eligible lists.

One of the factors that makes the event a handicapping challenge is the diversity. Churchill Downs totes it up that horses in these races last competed at 29 different tracks. For those keeping score at home, those are:

Aqueduct, Arapahoe Park, Belterra, Canterbury, Century Downs, Churchill Downs, Colonial Downs, Delaware Park, Delta Downs, Ellis Park, FanDuel Sportsbook and Horse Racing, Finger Lakes, and Gulfstream Park.

Also, Hawthorne, Horseshoe Indianapolis, Keeneland, Kentucky Downs, Laurel Park, Mahoning Valley Race Course, Meadowlands, Monmouth, Mountaineer, Parx, Presque Isle Downs, Remington Park, Santa Anita, Saratoga, Thistledown and Woodbine.