Golden Sixty Becomes Hong Kong’s Highest Earner

With a brilliant defence of his title in Sunday’s HK$20m Group One FWD Champions Mile (1600m) at Sha Tin, megastar Golden Sixty (Medaglia d’Oro) soared past fellow Karaka graduate Beauty Generation (NZ) (Road To Rock) to set a new all-time record for prize-money won in Hong Kong.

Bought for $300,000 from the 2017 Ready to Run Sale, Golden Sixty has now had 24 starts for 21 wins and HK$113,400,600, eclipsing Beauty Generation’s HK$106,233,750. The Champions Mile was the sixth Group One victory for the reigning Hong Kong Horse of the Year, whose glittering career has earned him more than 72 times his purchase price at Karaka.

Two surprise defeats earlier in the season are now a distant memory for Golden Sixty, who was at his scintillating best on Sunday.

Settling in fourth place under his regular rider Vincent Ho, Golden Sixty produced his trademark explosive acceleration in the straight and immediately put the result beyond any doubt, leaving his rivals behind and costing home in a two-length romp.

“He’s one in a lifetime,” Ho said. “When the pace steadied a little bit he started to travel a bit keen, but he was strong enough and brave enough to push through that gap and run them down easily. He wanted to slow down a bit in the last few strides, but he did amazing.”

Trainer Francis Lui was delighted with Sunday’s effort and raised the possibility of a shot at Japan’s Group One Yasuda Kinen (1600m) in June.

“He can really follow the pace now, not like before, when he needed to sit behind to start and sometimes got too far back,” he said. “He’s really stepping up.

“It’s not easy to have a horse who wins so many races. We are very happy, we all feel glory about this horse.

“He is entered already (for the Yasuda Kinen), but of course, we have to see how he recovers and we also need to see the quarantine, whether we can go and how the arrangements work. If everything is easy, we will go.”