Golden Sixty Stars, Hong Kong Preps for its Biggest Day

Hong Kong superstar Golden Sixty makes his season's debut Nov. 20 at Sha Tin Racecourse with trainer Francis Lui starting to look over his shoulder at the younger competition.

The 7-year-old Medaglia d'Oro   gelding gets going against six rivals in the BOCHK Private Wealth Jockey Club Mile (G2), the feature attraction on a three-stakes program that will identify the local favorites for the Dec. 11 Longines Hong Kong International Races.

Golden Sixty has won the Jockey Club Mile twice, each time en route to a victory in the Longines Hong Kong Mile (G1). His trackwork seems to have him fit enough to land the triple, and he's handled the opposition before in the closed universe that is Hong Kong racing for most of the season.

Still, Lui knows his horse's career has an expiration date and points to 4-year-old California Spangle, second to Golden Sixty in the FWD Champions Mile (G1) in April, as the main threat this time around.

"California Spangle is up-and-coming," Lui said after watching his star gallop Nov. 16 at Sha Tin. "Golden Sixty is a 7-year-old so he can only keep his form, while California Spangle can improve and maybe one day he can beat my horse.

"But you never know which race."

Hong Kong's leading rider, Zac Purton, will be aboard California Spangle and regular pilot Vincent Ho will have the Golden Sixty's reins.

The rest of the field seems well outclassed but the December race will pose new challenges with the entries including several Japanese stars who are set to contest the Mile Championship (G1) at Hanshin Racecourse at almost the same time as the Sha Tin race. Irish trainer Aidan O'Brien also has entered Order of Australia , and a German duo also grace the preliminary list.

The 2,000-meter (about 1 1/4 miles) BOCHK Jockey Club Cup (G2) is a prep for the Longines Hong Kong Cup (G1) at the same distance or for the Longines Hong Kong Vase (G1) at 2,400 meters (about 1 1/2 miles), which does not have a local preliminary.

Romantic Warrior, who defeated California Spangle by a head in the BMW Hong Kong Derby in March, returned from that to soundly thrash older rivals in the FWD Queen Elizabeth II Cup (G1) a month later but has not been seen in a race since.

James McDonald returns from Australia to take the riding assignment on Romantic Warrior and said he has confidence in trainer Danny Shum's ability to bring the 4-year-old back fresh and fit.

"Two thousand meters first-up is obviously never easy, but he's definitely got class on his side as a Hong Kong Derby winner," McDonald said. "It's nothing to be sneezed at, and resuming over 2,000 meters, he must be very forward, and I'm sure Danny has got him right where he wants to in terms of improvement going into the international series. But he's here to run very well. I'm excited to be on him."

The field for the Cup also includes Russian Emperor , Hong Kong's champion stayer on the back of victories last season in the Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup (G1) at 2,000 meters and the Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup (G1) at 2,400 meters. He returns in the Cup with a prep race already in the books—albeit an unimpressive showing.

The 5-year-old could go to either of the long races in December, but, whichever it will be, trainer Douglas Whyte said he's confident.

"The writing is on the wall, and I've said this numerous times, that his second run of his campaign is usually really good and the third run is when he really excels. I sat on him on Tuesday (Nov. 15) morning on the turf, and he felt really good. His action was great, which is when he runs a good race. He'll be running a huge race but whatever he does, his main target is December."

Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1T) winner Loves Only You  capped her career with a victory in the 2021 Longines Hong Kong Cup. This year's entries include 54 from overseas, 15 of them group 1 winners.

The BOCHK Private Banking Jockey Club Sprint (G2) at 1,200 meters (about six furlongs) drew 14 contenders, any of whom could advance to the Longines Hong Kong Sprint (G1) at the same distance in December.

Wellington will load into gate 7 for the Sprint defending a four-race winning streak that includes a pair of group 1 events.

With Hong Kong significantly easing its pandemic-related restrictions, the Sha Tin program should start to return significant numbers of fans to the massive grandstand. The Hong Kong Jockey Club, with cooperation from the government, has restored the December races to the schedule they last enjoyed in 2019, including a Friday night gala and the popular international jockey competition at Happy Valley Racecourse four days before the big races.