RUSSIAN Emperor will attempt to join a select band of multiple winners of the Group 1 Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup when Hong Kong’s reigning champion stayer tackles the HK$12 million feature at Sha Tin.

Douglas Whyte’s flagbearer faces eight rivals, including fellow Irish-bred Romantic Warrior, and 2021 winner Panfield, as he bids for a third Hong Kong Group 1. He also won The Amir Trophy in Doha, Qatar, in February.

Russian Emperor would join River Verdon, Indigenous, Oriental Express, Viva Pataca, Blazing Speed and Exultant as winner of two or more Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup since 1990.

Hugh Bowman will take the mount on Russian Emperor, as the son of Galileo will contest his ninth race this campaign after finishing sixth to tomorrow’s rival Straight Arron in the Group 3 Queen Mother Memorial Cup on May 7th and eighth at Group 1 level to Equinox in Dubai in March.

“He (Russian Emperor) has held his form. I thought at his last run, he ran with a lot of purpose and Hugh was happy with him. He got his momentum going and couldn’t go anywhere turning for home, so he was a victim of circumstances,” trainer Whyte said.

Whyte is mindful of the threat posed by Danny Shum’s Romantic Warrior.

“It’s going to be very hard to beat Romantic Warrior. He’s the new kid on the block and the only thing that would enhance our chances is having a bit of rain about but it doesn’t look that promising when you look at the weekend’s weather.

“Russian Emperor has had a phenomenal season. For a horse to go away and win in a foreign jurisdiction and win on a tight track like the one in Qatar, he’s done me proud - he’s done Hong Kong proud,” Whyte said.

“He then went to Dubai and ran enormous on Super Saturday and unfortunately there were a few excuses on Dubai World Cup night. He’s had a long campaign and he’s travelled around the world, so he’s in as good an order as we can expect heading into this race.”