Golden Sixty Claims Fourth Champion Miler Trophy

Record-breaking Ready to Run Sale graduate Golden Sixty (Medaglia d’Oro) was named Hong Kong’s Champion Miler for the fourth year in succession during the Champion Awards ceremony at Rosewood Hotel on Friday evening.

Also a three-time Hong Kong Horse of the Year, Golden Sixty has turned his $300,000 purchase price into more than HK$167m (NZ$35m) with 26 wins from 31 starts including 10 Group One triumphs. He has earned more money and won more Group One races than any other horse in the history of Hong Kong racing.

Golden Sixty won the prestigious Group One Hong Kong Mile (1600m) for the third time last December, going into the HK$32m feature fresh up after 224 days between runs. He jumped from the extreme outside gate in the 14-horse field and powered to victory by a length and a half, stopping the clock at 1:34.10.

The legendary miler was offered by Riversley Park at the 2017 Ready to Run Sale at Karaka, where he was bought by trainer Francis Lui. He did his early education in the Matamata stable of Graham Richardson, winning a trial at Te Teko in August 2018 before being sent to Hong Kong.

Golden Sixty was not the only New Zealand-sourced racehorse to play a starring role during the Champion Awards. The up-and-comer Ka Ying Rising (NZ) (Shamexpress) was named Champion Griffin and Most Improved Horse.

The David Hayes-trained gelding has had seven starts for five wins and two placings, culminating in a last-start success in the HK$4.2m Group Three Sha Tin Vase (1200m) in early June. Ka Ying Rising has so far earned more than HK$8.4m (NZ$1.76m).

Ka Ying Rising was bred by Grandmoral Lodge Racing and is out of the Per Incanto mare Missy Moo (NZ), who herself was bought for just $500 as a yearling at Karaka back in 2014. Missy Moo was a five-time winner in her own racetrack career, and Ka Ying Rising is her first foal.