Danny Shum Chap-shing is confident having two months between runs has reinvigorated Romantic Warrior ahead of his bid on Sunday to snap his two-race losing streak and make it two Group One FWD QE II Cup (2,000m) titles.

“He’s strong. He’s happy. He’s good,” was Shum’s succinct description of Romantic Warrior’s condition, mood and form on the eve of his first start in 63 days, which is the defending QE II Cup champion’s longest-ever in-season gap between appearances.

After producing, arguably, the top two individual performances at Sha Tin in 2022 – take your pick between his first-up win in the Group Two Jockey Club Cup (2,000m) in November and his second-up success in the Group One Hong Kong Cup (2,000m) in December – Romantic Warrior failed to justify favouritism in both of his first couple of contests this year.

Even though Romantic Warrior heads to the QE II Cup off back-to-back losses to Golden Sixty – the second of them over his pet trip of 2,000m when he was $1.5 in the market – and opposes a genuine international heavyweight in British raider Dubai Honour, his body of work, coupled with his hometown fan club, means he is likely to start as a short-priced favourite.

Shum rejects suggestions Romantic Warrior was below his best in his Group One Stewards’ Cup (1,600m) and Group One Gold Cup (2,000m) defeats to Golden Sixty, adding there was no shame in his stable star going down to Hong Kong’s two-time Horse of the Year.

“Romantic Warrior’s last two runs have been good runs. He’s only been beaten by Golden Sixty, the best horse in Hong Kong. It’s good – no problem at all. He’s very consistent, this horse,” Shum said.

The clock, however, tells a different story. While most gallopers could only dream of dipping under two minutes for Sha Tin’s 2,000m and Romantic Warrior is the only horse to beat that mark multiple times since 2020, there is no escaping the fact his three runs over Sunday’s course and distance this term have slowed as he has progressed through his campaign.

Romantic Warrior clocked 1:59.23 in the Jockey Club Cup, 1:59.70 in the Hong Kong Cup and 2:00.02 in the Gold Cup, with nothing in the sectional breakdowns to excuse his overall times getting slower and slower.

Dubai Honour keeps Haggas’ name in lights as he seeks QE II Cup glory

The jockey aboard Romantic Warrior for his two truly world-class wins, James McDonald, reunites with him after the five-year-old galloper’s connections lost faith in Karis Teetan, who was in the saddle for the Stewards’ Cup and the Gold Cup.

McDonald, who is two from two on Romantic Warrior, has seven rides at Sha Tin, including Sight Success and Aegon in the card’s other Group One events.