{"id":291015,"date":"2023-10-04T00:54:17","date_gmt":"2023-10-04T00:54:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/?p=291015"},"modified":"2023-10-04T00:54:17","modified_gmt":"2023-10-04T00:54:17","slug":"if-he-doesnt-eat-i-dont-eat-the-cox-plate-horse-who-turned-up-his-nose-at-airport-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/horse-racing\/if-he-doesnt-eat-i-dont-eat-the-cox-plate-horse-who-turned-up-his-nose-at-airport-food\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018If he doesn\u2019t eat, I don\u2019t eat\u2019: The Cox Plate horse who turned up his nose at \u2018airport food\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Romantic Warrior is a fussy eater, which his trainer Danny Shum has learnt the hard way.<\/p>\n

The champion horse, a raging favourite for this year\u2019s Cox Plate, loves his muesli mix from America, but when a replica feed was given to him while in quarantine in Hong Kong, the five-year-old gelding didn\u2019t want a bar of it.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Danny Shum (left), poses with his champion horse, Cox Plate favourite Romantic Warrior.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty Images<\/cite><\/p>\n

Romantic Warrior then flew to Werribee, where Australia\u2019s quarantine rules are even stricter, and when the Americans wouldn\u2019t share the recipe, Shum, from Hong Kong, thought his dream of getting Romantic Warrior to the Cox Plate in tip-top order was over. How would he get the horse to eat?<\/p>\n

He tried another Australian-made mix for Romantic Warrior, who liked it a bit more than the \u201cairport food\u201d at Hong Kong, but it just wasn\u2019t the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just as a human being, if you always eat that kind of food, and change that feed for you, you won\u2019t eat,\u201d Shum says.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt that time, he left six pounds [of feed one night], four pounds [the next night], he\u2019s hungry. He\u2019d eat a little bit and [decide] \u2018I don\u2019t like the feed\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery morning in Hong Kong, the first thing I do is check his feed. He always finishes all the feed, he loves to eat. But that time, you change the feed … if he doesn\u2019t eat, I don\u2019t eat. If he\u2019s not happy, I\u2019m not happy too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thankfully, it\u2019s all been sorted now. The Australian government has approved the feed to come to Werribee from Hong Kong, and Romantic Warrior is back on his tucker, just days out from his first run in Australia in Saturday\u2019s Turnbull Stakes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe feed was shipped to Werribee here, 48 packs. It will be easier for Romantic Warrior and [his stablemate] Romantic Charm as well,\u201d Shum says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is his usual feed. He loves this feed. He\u2019s eating very good now.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Romantic Warrior is back eating his favourite food after turning down some replica muesli mixes.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty Images<\/cite><\/p>\n

Shum says Romantic Warrior\u2019s racing weight is 1155 pounds (523 kilograms), and while a gallop at Flemington on Sunday, and multiple CT scans as part of Racing Victoria\u2019s strict vetting requirements to prevent further deaths of international horses during the spring carnival, have shown the horse lost weight, he\u2019s confident the horse will be ready for the challenges ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not 100 per cent, I can guarantee to you guys. He\u2019s 85, 90 per cent, but he will improve. That\u2019s exactly what James McDonald said after his gallop,\u201d Shum says.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe loves James McDonald. He loves to show he\u2019s a talent, that he can race. He wants to tell James McDonald, and you can see the last 800 metres [in that gallop], \u2018Ah c\u2019mon, I can race\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do think he\u2019s fit enough to handle [the run on Saturday]. I never doubt his potential.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Romantic Warrior prepares for track work at Flemington ahead of the spring carnival.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty Images<\/cite><\/p>\n

Shum has been involved with travelling superstars before. In 2000, he was assistant to Ivan Allan, trainer of Fairy King Prawn, who became Hong Kong\u2019s first overseas group 1 winner when he triumphed in the Yasuda Kinen in Japan.<\/p>\n

Later that year, after returning home, Fairy King Prawn \u2013 who Shum rode every day in track work \u2013 tried to chase down wonder mare Sunline in the 2000 Hong Kong Mile, only to be narrowly beaten by the two-time Cox Plate champion.<\/p>\n

Shum is just as excited about what Romantic Warrior can do abroad.<\/p>\n

McDonald, who won last year\u2019s Cox Plate on Anamoe, rode Romantic Warrior to victory at Sha Tin in April, in the QEII Cup over 2000 metres, and Shum says there\u2019s no other rider he\u2019d want on the horse.<\/p>\n

Asked to sum up Romantic Warrior, Shum said: \u201cHe\u2019s a superstar.\u201d<\/p>\n

Especially when he can munch on his favourite food.<\/p>\n

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