Any doubts about Romantic Warrior not being able to return to his glorious best after injury were firmly brushed aside as he crushed Voyage Bubble to win a third Group Two BOCHK Jockey Club Cup (2,000m) at Sha Tin on Sunday.

The 10-time Group One hero had been sidelined with an incomplete fracture in his left front fetlock and was returning from a 232-day absence to take on a race-fit Triple Crown hero in Voyage Bubble.

Despite this, the market was firmly in his favour and Danny Shum Chap-shing’s superstar jumped the $1.4 favourite. It would soon become clear as to why.

Always travelling ominously well in third behind the crawling pace of Voyage Bubble, Romantic Warrior was taken off heels by James McDonald as the field turned into the straight and the writing was quickly on the wall.

The pair cruised by Voyage Bubble at the 300m pole and were soon in command, with McDonald never even reaching for his whip as Romantic Warrior produced a final 400m of 21.73 seconds – faster than Ka Ying Rising two races earlier – to win by an eased down one and a half lengths.

It was a race that left Shum beaming from ear to ear and the 65-year-old is running out of superlatives to describe his stable star.

“Before the race I talked to James and we all understood that the pace would be slow, and then we said the most important thing is to relax the horse. He had a good turn of foot – we were not worried about the pace being slow,” said Shum.

“It’s not easy to take a horse 232 days back to a Group Two over 2,000m. He’s a superstar, he’s got talent and is smart.”

Romantic Warrior had a busy campaign last season internationally, winning the Group One Jebel Hatta (1,800m) at Meydan before agonising seconds in the Group One Saudi Cup (1,800m) and the Group One Dubai Turf (1,800m).

It was after that final run where his fracture was caught and much was made of the lay-off ahead of his long-awaited return.

His trials had given all the right signals, however, and Shum was quick to praise all the behind-the-scenes work that went into getting him back in fighting shape, while also issuing a frightening warning to any prospective rivals in next month’s Group One Hong Kong Cup (2,000m).

“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank my team, especially my stable assistant and his home rider – they put a lot of effort into him – and of course my stable vet Lawrence Chan Wai-him – he’s also helped him a lot,” said Shum.

“I’d like to thank Hugh Bowman. He trials the horse a lot and teaches the horse to relax. He also helps the team and the stable a lot.

“I will just keep him happy. He’s fit at the moment. If you really want me to put a figure on it, I will say he was 85 per cent [fit]. After this race, he will put on another 10 or 12lb.”

It was a strong day for McDonald, who got off the mark for this stint with a treble, kicked off by Fit For Beauty’s win in section one of the Class Four BOCHK SME In One Handicap (1,400m) and added to when Galaxy Patch stormed up the rail to win the Group Two BOCHK Private Wealth Jockey Club Mile.

Romantic Warrior was certainly the cream on top and McDonald was full of praise for his superstar partner.

“He’s so special, he takes the words out of my mouth. It’s an absolute privilege to ride him and every time he goes round it puts a huge smile on my face,” said McDonald.