By Scott Bailey
There is a certain electricity that follows a horse who has done something others couldn’t. And as Soul Rush steps out for the Hong Kong Mile on Sunday, he carries a distinction that no other runner on the entire HKIR programme can claim — he is the only horse on the planet to halt Romantic Warrior during the Hong Kong superstar’s extraordinary 2025 campaign. It happened under the lights of Meydan in March, when the Japanese miler surged late and snatched the Dubai Turf by a nose, a result that still feels like a plot twist in a season otherwise written by Romantic Warrior’s dominance.
But to define Soul Rush purely by that moment would undersell the journey that shaped him. A late bloomer by Japanese standards, he was never groomed as a precocious star. His debut as a two-year-old at Chukyo in 2020 hinted at ability when he swept past rivals to win by two lengths, but the years that followed were anything but straightforward. Class drops, inconsistent performances and a four-month reset punctuated his early career. Only late in his three-year-old season did he rediscover momentum, stringing together back-to-back mile wins that finally made him look like the horse his team always believed he was.
By 2022, Soul Rush was no longer a project. He was a threat! His four-length Shunkyo Stakes demolition announced him as a rising force, and weeks later he produced one of the most impressive late bursts seen in the Hanshin Milers Cup, storming home from last and handing jockey Suguru Hamanaka his 1,100th career win. He wasn’t simply talented; he was explosive, unpredictable, and capable of turning defeat into victory in the space of 150 metres.
What he did not yet have was consistency at the highest level. The Yasuda Kinen exposed him, the chaos of a Group 1 mile proving too sharp, too unforgiving, as he finished 13th. But Soul Rush kept evolving. A Fuji Stakes second and a brave fourth in the Mile Championship hinted that he was edging closer to belonging with the best.
That toughness crystallised at five. A third in the Milers Cup, a frustrating Yasuda Kinen, and then a bruising Keisei Hai Autumn Handicap where he carried 59 kilograms and still out-slugged Win Greatest at the wire. With João Moreira aboard, he nearly stole the Mile Championship, only to be collared late. Even in defeat, Soul Rush was sending a message: he had learned how to fight.
Then came 2024 — the season that changed everything.
Another booming Milers Cup win, a Yasuda Kinen placing behind Romantic Warrior that stamped him as world-class, and a Mile Championship triumph that showcased the full violence of his late acceleration. Jockey Taisei Danno was fined for celebrating too early, but it hardly mattered. Soul Rush had finally landed the Group 1 that had eluded him. A runner-up finish in the Hong Kong Mile behind Voyage Bubble only strengthened the belief that Japan had unearthed another top-tier international miler.
And still, his defining moment was yet to come.
Dubai, March 2025. Romantic Warrior, the world’s top-ranked middle-distance horse, arrived as the immovable object. But Soul Rush became the exception. Cristian Demuro executed the perfect ride — patient, economical, ice-cold, and Soul Rush unleashed a surge that stunned Meydan. He didn’t just beat Romantic Warrior; he out-fought him, nose to nose, at the very peak of the Hong Kong champion’s powers. It was the first overseas Group 1 win for trainer Yasutoshi Ikee and the moment Soul Rush stepped out of the shadows and into global prominence.
Injuries halted him soon after forcing him to the sidelines following his Yasuda Kinen third. But now he returns to Sha Tin, not for the Cup — but for the Mile, the race he has chased, cracked, and come agonisingly close to owning.
While Romantic Warrior will command the spotlight as the short-priced Hong Kong Cup favourite, his presence looms over the Mile in a different way. Because every runner in that field arrives knowing one truth: only one horse at this entire meeting has ever looked Romantic Warrior in the eye and refused to yield.
Soul Rush is that horse.
And on his day with a clean run, a patient ride, and the long Sha Tin straight inviting him to unwind, the Japanese entire isn’t just a danger. He’s a proven giant-killer.
Romantic Warrior may dominate the Cup betting, but punters would be brave to overlook the one horse who conquered him. Respect Soul Rush. Then give him a little more.
