More than a quarter of the elite field hail from Claiborne female families.
Story by B. Jason Brooks
The world’s top racehorse Romantic Warrior will make his dirt debut in the world’s richest race on Saturday, February 22nd in the US$20 million Saudi Cup at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Ranked #1 on Thoroughbred Racing Commentary newly-released Global Horses Ranking, Irish-bred Romantic Warrior, by British-bred sire Acclamation, will be going or his 11th career group 1 win and is seeking to add another $10 million to his already unmatched career earnings of US$22.8 million.
Descending from the Fabulous Native branch (highlighted below) of Claiborne foundation mare Alyne Que, the 7-year-old gelding enters the race having won his last eight starts – seven group 1s and a group 2. Based in Hong Kong, the elite globe-trotting superstar has won group 1 races in four countries: Hong Kong, Australia, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates.
Six of his group 1 wins came from three-peating in a pair of Sha Tin’s most prestigious races, the Hong Kong Cup and Queen Elizabeth II Cup in 2022, 2023 and 2024. His seventh group 1 victory there came in the 2024 Qeii Cup. Romantic Warrior’s first group 1 win outside of Hong Kong came in Australia’s 2023 W. S. Cox Plate at Moonee Valley and he added Japan to his list in winning the 2024 Yasuda Kinen in Tokyo.
His most recent victory came on January 24th in the 1,800-meter (approximately a mile and an eighth) group 1 Jebel Hatta at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai in which he romped to a four-and-a-half length win while setting a new course record with a time of 1 minute and 45.1 seconds over a good turf course. While it was an impressively victory, the celebration was muted due to a fatal breakdown in the stretch by Godolphin’s Measured Time.
Breaking from the three post on Saturday, Romantic Warrior will retain the services of 33-year-old New Zealander James McDonald, the reigning Longines World’s Best Jockey after winning the award for a second time in December.
Romantic Warrior’s Beginnings in Europe
Foaled in Ireland in March of 2018, Romantic Warrior was co-bred by David and Henrietta Egan’s Corduff Stud and American Tim Rooney. Romantic Warrior’s Darley-bred dam Folk Melody, by her native Irish-bred stallion Street Cry, is a daughter of Godolphin’s Irish-bred Folk Opera, by her native sire Singspeil, winner of the grade 1 E.P. Taylor Stakes in 2008 at Woodbine in Canada.
At the 2019 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, retired Irish jockey Michael J. “Mick” Kinane was scouting for prospects on behalf of the Hong Kong Jockey Club. Speaking of his experience at the sale, Mr. Meehan told International Thoroughbred’s Jeremy Greene in 2023 (here) that “When I first saw Romantic Warrior at Newmarket, he was that striking that I sent him to be vetted straight away… He was just a lovely individual. He was very athletic, very correct, he had a lovely head. I had my mind made up, I wanted him.” Thankfully, it all worked at in the sales ring and he was acquired for nearly US$400,000.
Following the Newmarket sale, Romantic Warrior was sent to train with Brian Meehan at the historic Manton Estate in Wiltshire, England to be prepped for racing in Hong Kong. As Jeremy Greene’s story notes, “Towards the end of his time in England, Romantic Warrior shone in a racecourse gallop at Kempton, subsequently won a barrier trial at Lingfield, and then duly shipped eastwards to the Hong Kong [Jockey Club] International Sale at Sha Tin held at the end of June 2021.” Romantic Warrior caught the eye of trainer Danny Shum who was surveying the sale with businessman Peter Lau. Mr. Lau’s bid of approximately US$615,000 successfully acquired the standout as the second-most expensive hip of the sale.
Romantic Warrior won his debut and quickly went on to capture the coveted Hong Kong Derby at Sha Tin in March of 2022. From that point on, his career has been all group 1 and 2 stakes action, mostly victories, with a career record of 18 wins from 23 starts.
Romantic Warrior’s Claiborne Female Family
Romantic Warrior is a fifth-generation tail-female line descendant of Claiborne-bred mare Fabulous Native, by imported French-bred Claiborne stallion Le Fabuleux. Fabulous Native was the first of seven foals out of Claiborne foundation mare Alyne Que, by Raise A Native.
Despite only winning once from four starts, Claiborne foundation mare Alyne Que was from a successful female family bred by Leslie Combs II at Spendthrift Farm. Four of her half- or full-sibling were stakes winners and six went on to produce stakes horses, including four-time grade 1-winning millionaire Interco, by Intrepid Hero. Alyne Que’s most notable progeny include Descent, by Claiborne stallion Avatar, winner of the grade 3 Affectionately Handicap in 1985 at Aqueduct, and Muscovite, by imported Canadian-bred Claiborne stallion Nijinsky II, winner of the group 3 Whitehall Stakes at Phoenix Park in Ireland.
In addition to Romantic Warrior, the family of Claiborne-bred mare Fabulous Native includes the following five grade or group 1 winners: Fabulous Native’s colt St. Hilarion, by Claiborne stallion Sir Ivor, the 1985 champion 3-year-old in Italy after winning the Gran Premio d’Italia and Gran Premio del Jockey Club e Coppa d’Oro there; the above-mentioned Irish-bred Folk Opera, by her native sire Singspiel, Romantic Warrior’s granddam who won of the E.P. Taylor Stakes at Woodbine in Canada in 2008 for owner Godolphin; Argentine-bred Mr Bailetti, by Exchange Rate, winner of the 2017 Gran Premio Nacional Augusto B Leguia at Monterrico in Peru. Mr Bailetti’s Kentucky-bred dam Opera Lily, by Irish-bred sire Street Cry, is a full sibling to Romantic Warrior’s Irish-bred dam Folk Melody; Juddmonte’s British-bred Proportional, by her native sire Beat Hollow, winner of the 2008 Prix Marcel Boussac at Longchamp in France; and, Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum’s Kentucky-bred Muhtarram, by Alleged, winner of the 1993 Champion Stakes at Leopardstown in Ireland.
Adding to these top-tier international wins, Fabulous Native’s family has been represented in the United States by a trio of stakes winners. Turf sprinter Nothing Better, by Munnings, won the Rainbow Heir Stakes at Monmouth in 2022 and the Turf Sprint Championship Stakes at Aqueduct in 2022 and 2023. Last year he added victories in the Mighty Beau Stakes at Churchill and Wolf Hill Stakes at Monmouth. He finished his 7-year-old campaign in 2024 by taking runner-up honors in the grade 3 Belmont Turf Sprint Stakes, with career earnings topping $850,000. Demonstrating the female family’s ability on the dirt, Stonestreet Farm homebred Countess Curlin, by Curlin, won the one-mile Island Fashion Stakes at Sunland Park in 2013 and G. Watts Humphrey Jr.’s homebred Final Count, by Smart Strike, won the one-mile Cliff Guilliams Handicap at Ellis Park in 2012.
Claiborne Families Represented in the Saudi Cup
Romantic Warrior will face an accomplished field of 14 foes entered for the 1,800-meter Saudi Cup on Saturday. Among his competitors are three elite runners hailing from Claiborne female families. Collectively, the four entries account for more than a quarter of the entire field.
The second Saudi Cup entry representing a Claiborne family is Japanese-bred Ushba Tesoro, by his native sire Orfevre, who won the group 1 Dubai World Cup in 2023 and was runner up in the Saudi Cup last year. The 8-year-old horse with career earnings of more than US$16.5 million is from the Bayou branch of Claiborne foundation mare Bourtai. (See more on him and his family in “Ushba Tesoro Highlights the Dynamic Claiborne Family of Bayou” on the Claiborne Blog here.)
A third entry from a Claiborne family is British-bred Walk of Stars, a 6-year-old gelding by Irish-bred sire Dubawi, who enters the race a newly-minted millionaire fresh off his first group 1 win in the Al Maktoum Challenge at Meydan last month. Walk of Stars is from the Basin branch of Claiborne matriarch Bourtai. (See more on Basin’s successful family in “Saudi Cup Champion Panthalassa’s Success Spotlights the Powerful Claiborne Family of Bourtai” on the Claiborne Blog here.)
And, the fourth Saudi Cup contender from a Claiborne family is Japanese-bred Wilson Tesoro, by his native sire Kitasan Black, a 6-year-old horse with more than US$3.5 million in earnings. With four runner-up finishes in group 1 races in Japan, he is from the Marguerite branch of imported British-bred Claiborne foundation mare Fairy Ray.
Romantic Warrior has made a significant impact on the global racing scene and victory over a dirt track versus an international field of accomplished winners will add to his legacy. Winning the Saudi Cup will bring his earnings into another stratosphere that will be difficult for any horse to match any time soon. The success of Romantic Warrior, as well as Ushba Tesoro, Walk of Stars, and Wilson Tesoro, enhances the reputations of Claiborne female families responsible for producing some of racing’s global elite today.