Golden Sixty Ignites Hong Kong’s Champion Awards Evening

Karaka graduates played a starring role in Hong Kong’s Champion Awards at Happy Valley on Tuesday night, winning six of the nine equine categories for this season, along with a Lifetime Achievement Award for Beauty Generation (NZ) (Road to Rock). 

The headline act was the superstar Golden Sixty (Medaglia d’Oro), who was a $300,000 purchase from Riversley Park’s draft at the 2017 Ready to Run Sale and has become the biggest name in Hong Kong racing.

He was named Hong Kong’s Horse of the Year, Champion Middle-Distance Horse, Champion Miler and Most Popular Horse of the Year.

Golden Sixty became the third Karaka graduate in the last four years to be named Hong Kong’s Horse of the Year, after Beauty Generation claimed back-to-back titles in 2018 and 2019.

From seven starts this season, Golden Sixty scored seven sparkling victories – extending his phenomenal unbeaten streak to 14 consecutive wins.

He became the first horse to ever win the Group One Hong Kong Mile (1600m), Stewards’ Cup (1600m), Hong Kong Gold Cup (2000m) and Champions Mile (1600m) in the same season.

Overall, Golden Sixty has now won 17 of his 18 starts and HK$77.93m – the equivalent of NZ$14.47m, which is almost 50 times his purchase price at Karaka.

The Champion Four-Year-Old award was won by Sky Darci (NZ) (Darci Brahma), who was bought for $160,000 from the draft of Highden Park in Book 1 of Karaka 2018. He won five races this season including the HK$24m Hong Kong Derby (2000m) and the Group Three Lion Rock Trophy (1600m). 

Sky Darci has returned a total of HK$23.8m in stakes from his 14-start, seven-win career in Hong Kong to date, which is the equivalent of NZ$4.4m – more than 27 times his purchase price.

Emerging star Courier Wonder (NZ) (Sacred Falls) earned the title of Most Improved Horse. Bought for $150,000 from Waikato Stud’s consignment in Book 1 of Karaka 2019, he is undefeated in five starts, culminating in the Group Three Sha Tin Vase (1200m). His prize-money earnings are in excess of HK$7m, which is almost nine times his purchase price at Karaka two years ago.

The Lifetime Achievement Award honoured the record-breaking career of Beauty Generation. The champion gelding won 18 of his 34 starts in Hong Kong for HK$106,233,750 in stakes, making him the highest prize-money earner in the history of Hong Kong racing. He amassed the equivalent of NZ$19.6m, which is more than 326 times his purchase price at Karaka.

As well as being a two-time Hong Kong Horse of the Year, Beauty Generation is the only horse in history to be voted Hong Kong’s Champion Miler on three separate occasions. He earned a Longines World’s Best Racehorse rating of 127 in both 2018 and 2019, which is the equal highest ever for a Hong Kong horse, and he was named the world’s best specialist turf miler in both of those years.

Beauty Generation retired in December of 2020 and was sent to Living Legends in Victoria.