Romantic Warrior rules out Cox Plate title defence

The winner of one of Australia’s biggest races will not be coming back to the country to defend his title. The Moonee Valley Racing Club announced Saturday that Romantic Warrior will not be coming back to Melbourne to defend his Group 1 Ladbrokes Cox Plate title.  
 
Before and after winning the $5 million race last year, Romantic Warrior has dominated the Asian circuit in Hong Kong and Japan. His trainers have opted to stay in Asia this October instead of making the trip to Melbourne for the W. S. Cox Plate. 

Cox Plate contender withdraws from race 

After making a name for himself in Asia, Romantic Warrior came to Australia in 2023 to race in some of the country’s most prestigious races.  
 
He started by finishing fourth in the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes at Flemington. Then, Romantic Warrior won the 2023 Group 1 Cox Plate at Moonee Valley by beating Mr. Brightside by just a nose.  
 
Romantic Warrior was the first Hong Kong horse to win the $5 million race. He has now turned down the chance to be the first repeat winner since Australian Racing Hall of Famer Winx won four straight between 2015 and 2018.  
 
While not as dominant as Winx, Romantic Warrior had a good chance of retaining his title. Most Australian betting sites had the Hong Kong horse as favourite to win with $4.50 odds.  
 
Romantic Warrior’s absence will be a big miss at Moonee Valley this year.  

Romantic Warrior wins Hong Kong Horse of the Year 

Since conquering the Cox Plate in Australia last October, Romantic Warrior has returned to dominating the Asian circuit.  
 
Romantic Warrior has won his last four races including the Grade 1 Yasuda Kinen race at the Tokyo Racecourse in Japan last month. He also completed clean-sweep of all Hong Kong's Group 1 2000m races this season.  
 
For his efforts, on Friday, Romantic Warrior was crowned Hong Kong Horse of the Year for the first time in his career.  

Early Cox Plate predictions 

With Romantic Warrior out of the running, Pride of Jenni ($4.20) is the new Cox Plate betting favourite. In fact, most betting apps do not really rate any other horses other than Pride of Jenni. 
 
Behind the daughter of Pride Of Dubai, is Via Sistina at $9.00 and Broadsiding, Blow The Horn, and Voyage Bubble all at $10.00.  
 
One of the outsiders who will likely rise up the Cox Plate betting odds table is Mr Brightside. The six-year-old finished runner-up last year and has historically performed well in the spring season.