Golden Run Continues With Second Hong Kong Mile

In front of thousands of adoring fans, Hong Kong hero Golden Sixty (Medaglia d’Oro) enhanced his status among the all-time greats of the Sha Tin turf with his second consecutive triumph in the HK$26m Group One Longines Hong Kong Mile (1600m) on Sunday. 

Bought for $300,000 from Riversley Park’s draft at the 2017 Ready to Run Sale, the reigning Hong Kong Horse of the Year has now won 19 of his 20 starts, including all of his last 16 in succession. He is only one win away from Hong Kong’s all-time record of 17 wins in a row, set by superstar sprinter Silent Witness (El Moxie) between 2002 and 2005.

Golden Sixty has banked over HK$95 million in stakes for his owner Stanley Chan Ka Leung, which is the equivalent of NZ$17.9 million – almost 60 times his price tag at Karaka four years ago. He has now broken new ground in Hong Kong racing, becoming their first horse in history to record 19 career victories.

Sunday’s second Hong Kong Mile was Golden Sixty’s toughest test yet, coming up against an elite international field that included three Japanese Group One winners, along with this year’s English 1000 Guineas (1600m) heroine Mother Earth (Zoffany).

But the result was the same as it always has been. After cruising around in mid-pack beside the running rail, Golden Sixty went into overdrive when jockey Vincent Ho angled him into clear air and pushed the button at the top of the Sha Tin straight.

The champion powered to the lead within the space of a few giant strides and soon opened up a commanding advantage, which the strong-finishing More Than This (Dutch Art) and Salios (Heart’s Cry) never had any hope of clawing back.

To the delight of a vocal crowd, Golden Sixty swept to his sweet 16th win in a row, scoring by a comfortable margin of a length and three-quarters in a time of 1:33.86.

“It’s all about him,” Ho said. “The whole team did a really great job and I'm so thankful. I knew he was at his best today. Draw two was a little bit tricky, and I never really like to be on the inside, but we all know he's brave enough to go through horses as well.

"He means the world to me. Without him I wouldn't be here. He's brought me a lot great opportunities and Group races.

“Last year it wasn’t like this, but today I got to enjoy it with the crowd, and it’s such a great atmosphere.”

Golden Sixty is trained by Francis Lui, who was enormously proud of his stable star’s powerhouse performance.

“I feel very happy, he’s my champion,” Lui said. “I have to say thank you to my team, Vincent and the owner for their support.”

Golden Sixty is the second Karaka graduate to go back-to-back in the prestigious Hong Kong Mile in recent years, with the great Beauty Generation (NZ) (Road to Rock) achieving the same feat in 2017 and 2018.

Vendor	Riversley Park
Purchaser	Mr F Lui (Hong Kong)
Breeding	Medaglia d’Oro – Gaudeamus
Sale	Lot 136, 2017 Ready to Run Sale, $300,000
Bred by	Asco International, Qld