Multiple Group One winner Romantic Warrior faces a date with destiny when he lines up in the 2025 Saudi Cup in Riyadh on February 22.
The 2023 Cox Plate hero has won a plethora of other top-class races during his glittering career, but faces a new challenge at the King Abdulaziz Racetrack.
Romantic Warrior will tackle a dirt surface for the first time in competitive action, but the Sydney-based jockey believes he will have no problem handling the switch.
“It is an interesting one and I probably know as much as everyone else as he is pretty untried on it,” McDonald told the Nick Luck Daily Podcast.
“The one thing we are grasping on is that he has trialled really well in Hong Kong on dirt. I know it is a completely different dirt, but he has gone particularly well on it and that is a little inkling that he might adapt pretty well.
“If there is one horse in the world who I think can transfer his turf form to the dirt it is Romantic Warrior, as he has an incredible heart and an incredible will to win and a great racing style as well.
“I am quietly confident he will handle it and I’m quietly confident that if he does handle it, he is going to be one hell of a horse to beat.”
The seven-year-old will undoubtedly be a popular pick with Australian punters given their affinity with the two-time World Jockey of the Year.
McDonald has ridden more than 100 Group One winners during his career and is often the first port of call for Aussie bettors when they are assessing a race.
It is similar story with the betting experts on respected comparison platform Only Racing, who are massive fans of what McDonald has achieved in Australian horse racing.
The 33-year-old’s association with Romantic Warrior has boosted his global reputation, but McDonald believes trainer Danny Shum should take a sizeable chunk of the praise.
“Anyone could strap themselves to this horse and be pretty successful,” McDonald added.
“Every time I get on him, I feel like he is unbeatable – he just gives you that feeling and that is incredible going to these big races like that.
“He is horse of a lifetime and has taken Danny and I to some great countries on a great ride. We are very lucky and blessed to come across him.
“I just feel like he is getting better and better at the moment so there is no reason why he can’t be the horse to beat in Saudi, and the horse to beat back in Dubai in a month’s time.
“He is still on an upwards spiral and at the peak of his powers at the moment.”
McDonald’s reference to Dubai was a pointer towards Romantic Warrior’s next target, which Shum has indicated will be in the Dubai Turf at Meydan Racecourse.
The Dubai World Cup had been touted as an option, but Shum has confirmed he ‘will almost certainly go for the turf race’.
Although owner Peter Lau has been eager to take on the challenge of running on dirt, Shum wants to switch him back to turf as soon as possible.
He also teased the possibility of Romantic Warrior being kept in training as an eight-year-old, but says he will not travel overseas again once his Middle East stint ends.
“I talked to the owner before I left and he probably won’t run overseas anymore and we will keep him in Hong Kong for three or four races every season,” Shum said. “We’ll keep him healthy and happy and hopefully he can do good.”
