Already deemed an immortal of Hong Kong racing, Golden Sixty will chase further lustre to his incredible record this Sunday when he takes aim at joining Good Ba Ba with a third successive Group 1 Longines Hong Kong Mile triumph. Good Ba Ba won the race in 2007, 2008 and 2009, while Golden Sixty has won the past two editions (2020 & 2021); this weekend the brilliant son of Medaglia d’Oro, who holds Hong Kong’s all time earnings record of HK$116,250,600 (approx $15million), faces a talented group of gallopers from Hong Kong, Japan and Australia all looking to defy his bid at Sha Tin.
Stepping out on Tuesday morning for his final turf gallop in front of an adoring wall of media, Golden Sixty pleased connections as he strode powerfully down the Sha Tin straight under jockey Vincent Ho, clocking 1m 20.2s (29.7, 27.7, 22.8) for his overall effort. “He felt good, it was a nice gallop.
I think he’s better than last time, I walked him around after and we’ve done enough. I can’t wait for Sunday,” Ho said. Golden Sixty defied a resolute California Spangle in last month’s Group 2 Jockey Club Mile, edging past his younger adversary, who set a crawling tempo throughout the race, to score by a neck.
Trainer Francis Lui echoed Ho’s words and is equally looking forward to Sunday and said: “He’s good, for him it was just an easy gallop. Everything is well, happy and healthy. “In his races he seems to still have his fighting heart and that’s the main point.” Hong Kong’s dual Horse of the Year has won his last three starts, including his penultimate one when he nailed successive Group 1 Champions Mile titles.
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