The Five Moments That Define Golden Sixty’s Greatness

5. Hong Kong Derby (2020)

When Golden Sixty won the Hong Kong Classic Mile at Sha Tin on January 27, it was at the last ‘normal’ meeting in Hong Kong for three years. By the time of his Hong Kong Classic Cup triumph on February 23, the only people who were able to access the racecourse were required Club officials (including trainers and jockeys) and owners as the COVID pandemic swept through the city. 

So when the local hero lined up against 13 rivals in the Hong Kong Derby on March 22, aiming to become just the second horse to win all three legs of the Four-Year-Old Classic Series, what should have been a rapturous ripple was instead deafening in its stillness.

It was a Derby for the ages too, a rollercoaster ride that would have ignited a vocal Sha Tin crowd with Blake Shinn on Playa del Puente riding the near-perfect tactical race. When the pace slackened tracking towards the 800m, Shinn shot around the field on the 289-1 shot, judging that his horse had the stamina to see off a rampaging Golden Sixty. 

Just 200 metres earlier, Shinn had been alongside Ho and knew that he had little chance of defeating his rival in a sprint home. 

Early in the straight, Playa del Puente was four lengths clear of the field with Golden Sixty pulled to the outside and quickly making ground. However, with more than a length to pull back past the 100m, it seemed as though Shinn might have committed daylight robbery. 

Not for the last time, though, Golden Sixty – and Ho, too – proved a great judge of where the post was, hitting the front two strides before the line to win by a neck.

A homegrown owner, trainer and jockey combining with a horse who had only raced in Hong Kong: the city had a new hero when it needed one most.

4. First Hong Kong Mile (2020)

Golden Sixty had defeated all before him in Hong Kong, but how would he perform against international opposition?

The 2020 Hong Kong Mile was the first chance to see him tested against formlines from around the world. While the pandemic meant that visitor numbers were down, his opponents included Japan’s defending champion Admire Mars, last-start Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Order Of Australia and an Irish 2,000 Guineas winner in Romanised. 

On the local front, Southern Legend – the two-time Kranji Mile winner in Singapore who had won the Champions Mile earlier in the year – was back alongside two-time Hong Kong Mile victor Beauty Generation and the previous year’s runner-up Waikuku.

Would Golden Sixty end 2020 as the city’s number one, or would he be just another flash in the pan who looked like being a superstar but failed to deliver?

Golden Sixty settled back in the field off a solid, even tempo, before Ho, with little more than a half-inch extension of the reins, put him into the race passing the 600m. In the blink of an eye, he went from six lengths off the lead to within two lengths and it seemed a matter of how far he would win by.

The answer? Two lengths, but even that didn’t reflect the dominance of his success. There was little doubt that Hong Kong had a new king.

3. Return To The Races (2022)

Across Golden Sixty’s 26 victories, there were plenty of races that demonstrated his immense ability: the dazzling acceleration, sheer speed and utter dominance. Few capture all of those hallmarks better than his return victory for the 2022-23 season in the G2 Jockey Club Mile.

Golden Sixty conceded five pounds, a significant fitness edge and tactical speed to his subsequent Hong Kong Mile conqueror California Spangle. It was the first time in two and a half years that he started greater than $2 and the first time in more than three years that he wasn’t favourite.

In the end, it required three 200m splits under 11 seconds to chase down California Spangle. That included a record 10.41s 400m to 200m that was quicker than anything ever recorded in a Sha Tin mile race. 

This was the day Golden Sixty showed he didn’t need everything to go his way to win. 

It looked gritty and perhaps it was the stamina-sapping nature of the race that proved a major factor as to why he couldn’t quicken anywhere near as well in the Hong Kong Mile three weeks later.

2. ‘Race Of The Decade’ (2023)

The G1 Stewards’ Cup (1600m) in 2023 was being touted as the ‘Race of the Decade’ more than a month out from the blockbuster clash between two horses that would prove to be among Hong Kong’s greatest champions.

The prospect of Golden Sixty and Romantic Warrior meeting for the first time was tantalising in itself, but throw in Romantic Warrior’s old sparring partner and Golden Sixty’s last-start conqueror California Spangle and it was the most exciting race that had been staged at Sha Tin for some time. 

So often, the product fails to match the hype. When it does, though, you get magic: think Bonecrusher versus Our Waverley Star in the 1986 Cox Plate or Sunday Silence versus Easy Goer in the 1989 Breeders’ Cup Classic.

So it was when the trio lined up among seven runners at the Sha Tin mile. A tactical race saw California Spangle lead out as expected from Romantic Warrior with Golden Sixty a handier third, enjoying the box-seat trail. 

Zac Purton, riding California Spangle, gradually increased the tempo with his charge hitting top gear at the 300m. Romantic Warrior, dropping back in trip after two dominant wins at 2000m, was outpaced early in the straight leaving the gap open for Golden Sixty to saunter on through. 

In the end, Golden Sixty won by a length over Romantic Warrior with California Spangle a short neck away in third, but like a prize fighter, it was not the manner of the triumph that mattered but the fact that he now could now be called the undisputed champion of Hong Kong.

Time has only enhanced the race’s reputation. Romantic Warrior has built a significant resume both in Hong Kong and abroad, and his victories in the Cox Plate in Australia and the Yasuda Kinen in Japan cemented his legacy as a Hong Kong great. And while California Spangle may not have matched the level of his Hong Kong Mile success in two seasons since, he was also able to win abroad, landing the Al Quoz Sprint at Meydan. 

1. Third Hong Kong Mile (2023)

Eight years old. First-up after seven months. Uninspiring trials. An outside draw. There were plenty of reasons to bet against Golden Sixty as he lined up in last year’s Hong Kong Mile, attempting to match Good Ba Ba as a three-time winner of the race.

History had evaded him 12 months before, and, even though he was undefeated in 2023, Father Time was surely catching up on him. Surely.

No one told Golden Sixty that, though.

Ho eased the champ to midfield with cover and then allowed him to amble up on the turn before racing clear early in the straight. For a horse known as a chaser, it was a notable change. And it proved the difference as Golden Sixty had stamped his authority across the race passing the 200m: his rivals well-beaten, he was eased down before the line and won by a length and a half.

It was perhaps the most comfortable win of his career and a fitting final victory in front of a full Sha Tin grandstand as his career came full circle.

Honourable Mentions

Either the 2023 or 2024 Champions Mile could easily slot into this list. 

Golden Sixty’s 2023 campaign closer saw him become the world’s highest-earning racehorse ever – a title he still held upon retirement. 

Then there’s the 2024 Champions Mile, which will go down in history as his 31st and final start. He was defeated and missed the placings for just the second time in his career, but he was given a louder ovation upon his return in front of the grandstand than winner Beauty Eternal.

A case could be made for Golden Sixty’s first victory as a three-year-old in March 2019, as could his first stakes victory in the G3 Chinese Club Challenge Cup in 2020.