Ahead of his bid to capture a record third successive G1 FWD Champions Mile (1600m) at Sha Tin on Sunday week, Golden Sixty (Medaglia d’Oro) left both trainer Francis Lui and jockey Vincent Ho satisfied following his effort in a barrier trial on Tuesday morning.
Successful in the 2021 and 2022 editions of the HK$20 million race under Ho, Hong Kong’s champion coasted around the 1200m Sha Tin dirt course in 1m 10.42s at the tail of the field in sixth position, while Voyage Bubble (Deep Field) edged out Drombeg Banner (Starspangledbanner) to lead the eight-runner group home in 1m 09.93s.
“Same as usual, we’re happy and even Vincent after he came back and passed me, I asked him and he said he was also happy with the trial,” Lui said.
No horse has won the FWD Champions Mile three times, while Ho is the only jockey with three wins in the race along with Brett Prebble after also partnering Southern Legend (Not A Single Doubt) when he sensationally denied Beauty Generation’s (NZ) (Road To Rock) hat-trick bid in 2020.
“I hope so (to winning the FWD Champions Mile three times), at the moment I am just trying to pick the race for him,” Lui said. “He’s seven years old, so we just pick the right races for him – he’s not a young man.”
Lui originally planned to trial Golden Sixty, purchased out of Riversley Park’s 2017 Ready To Run draft, on 4 April, however, constant rain and a sloppy dirt course prompted the handler to place his star galloper on turf that morning.
“We were going to trial (earlier) but the weather and the track was terrible, so we cancelled it,” Lui said.
Golden Sixty is expected to face eight opponents this year, led by his leading antagonist California Spangle – winner of the 2022 G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Mile (1600m) – as well as Waikuku (Harbour Watch), Voyage Bubble, Beauty Joy (Sebring), Glorious Dragon (Teofilo) and Healthy Happy (Zoustar).
The Southern Hemisphere will have two participants in the form of last-start G1 Doncaster Mile (1600m) second My Oberon (Dubawi) trekking up for Annabel Neasham alongside New Zealand’s Aegon (NZ) (Sacred Falls) – a Group One winner as a three-year-old in 2020.
Both horses arrived safely in Hong Kong overnight from Australia, as did Dubai Honour in the early hours of this morning. Joao Moreira rides My Oberon, Aegon pairs with James McDonald and Dubai Honour (Pride of Dubai) gets Tom Marquand at the HK$65 million showcase.
