Hong Kong Gold Cup preview & best bets | Sunday, February 26

The 2023 edition of the Hong Kong Gold Cup sees seven gallopers accepting for the Group 1 over 2000m, with Golden Sixty and Romantic Warrior headlining the field.

They clash yet again after meeting in the Stewards’ Cup on January 29 along with Panfield, but this time it’s over the 2000m rather than the mile.

Tourbillion Diamond makes his return after being freshened from the Hong Kong Cup on December 11, while we see Money Catcher, Glorious Dragon and Ka Ying Star all looking to step up to Group 1 level after running in behind Senor Toba in the Centenary Vase.

HONG KONG GOLD CUP ODDS

The market rightly sees this race as a two-horse affair with Romantic Warrior ($2) edging favouritism over Golden Sixty ($2.25) with every other runner a double-figure quote. Glorious Dragon and Tourbillion Diamon share the third line of betting at $17, while the best of the rest is Money Catcher sitting at $21.

HONG KONG GOLD CUP SPEED MAP

Despite a small field assembled for Sunday afternoon, the tempo should be relatively genuine with Money Catcher the likely leader with Silvestre de Sousa on board. His customary style to bowl along up on speed should be appreciated by the two favourites, with Ka Ying Star likely to muster as well. Golden Sixty gets the box seat with Vincent Ho to find the one-one, and Glorious Dragon should be in behind Money Catcher on the rail. Drawn in six, we expect Romantic Warrior to trail the champ every step of the way, tracking across with stablemate Tourbillion Diamond to his inside. Panfield looks the default backmarker and will be bringing up the tail of the field turning for home.

HONG KONG GOLD CUP FORM & TIPS

Romantic Warrior we feel has a date with destiny on Sunday afternoon looking to knock off one of Hong Kong’s greatest of all time, Golden Sixty. He was outsprinted by the champ over the mile in the Stewards’ Cup as Vincent Ho produced one of his best rides on the star seven-year-old. All that said, the way Romantic Warrior picked himself up off the canvas to finish just a length away was just as impressive. He looked gone but was able to get past Hong Kong Mile winner California Spangle. Now back to the 2000m that saw him obliterate his opposition in the Hong Kong Cup, we’ve got to be leaning in favour of this rising star. You can easily go either way, but over 2000m Golden Sixty is somewhat vulnerable – as seen in his 2021 win of this race when beating Furore by a lip, and then in last year’s edition going down to Russian Emperor. It is going to be an incredible race regardless of the result, but it looks like Romantic Warrior’s time in the limelight.

The rest of the field are making up the numbers for the minor money, but the best of them looks to be Tourbillion Diamond. He should get a perfect map into the race and should have every chance to win, but coming off a break and a 6.3-length loss to Romantic Warrior in the Hong Kong Cup, he’s got plenty of ground to make up.

The same can be said for Glorious Dragon, who after a year off has been solid in behind lesser company. He’s got a win in him somewhere this time in, but we couldn’t imagine it’s on Sunday.

2023 HONG KONG GOLD CUP SELECTIONS & BEST BETS

• 2

  ROMANTIC WARRIOR

• 1

  GOLDEN SIXTY

• 3

  TOURBILLION DIAMOND

• 6

  GLORIOUS DRAGON

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