New Zealand Bloodstock graduate Golden Sixty (Medgalia d’Oro) has been crowned Hong Kong Horse of the Year for the 2020/21 season.
The Francis Lui-trained five-year-old was also named Champion Miler and Champion Middle-Distance Horse.
The son of Medaglia d’Oro also secured the bulk of the public vote to claim the Most Popular Horse title for the second consecutive year.
The 2019/20 season’s Champion Four-Year-Old showed further improvement this term, with a perfect record of seven wins from seven starts, with the last four wins all at Group One level.
Since September 2019, he has maintained an unbeaten run of 14 and he is the first horse to capture the Gr.1 Hong Kong Mile (1600m), Gr.1 Stewards’ Cup (1600m), Gr.1 Hong Kong Gold Cup (2000m) and Gr.1 Champions Mile (1600m) in the same season, highlighting his versatility and brilliance.
Golden Sixty is the fourth horse in Hong Kong racing history after Good Ba Ba (Lear Fan), Able Friend (Shamardal) and Beauty Generation (NZ) (Road To Rock) to win the Horse of the Year title in the same season as winning both the Hong Kong Mile and Champions Mile.
In addition to his four Group One wins, Golden Sixty also took the Gr.2 Jockey Club Mile (1600m), Gr.2 Sha Tin Trophy (1600m) and the Gr.3 Celebration Cup (1400m).
Golden Sixty was purchased by his trainer out of Riversley Park’s 2017 New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale for $300,000, and did his early education under Matamata trainer Graham Richardson.
New Zealand-bred gelding Sky Darci (NZ) (Darci Brahma) was the deserving winner of the Four-Year-Old Champion award.
The Caspar Fownes-trained galloper won five races this season, including the Hong Kong Derby (2000m), the final leg of the Four-Year-Old Classic Series and the Gr.3 Lion Rock Trophy (1600m).
In his final start of the season, he also finished a creditable second behind stablemate Sky Field in another Gr.3 Premier Cup (1400m).
Sky Darci was purchased out of Highden Park’s 2018 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 Yearling Sale draft for $160,000 by Mr B Kwan.
Fellow expat Kiwi, Courier Wonder (NZ), was named the season’s Most Improved Horse. After starting the campaign on a rating of 52, the Sacred Falls gelding soared 55 points to a mark of 107 after remaining unbeaten with five wins from five starts.
Courier Wonder was purchased out of Waikato Stud’s 2019 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 Yearling Sale draft for $150,000 by bloodstock agent John Foote.
Meanwhile, former Hong Kong Champion Beauty Generation (NZ) (Road To Rock) was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to Hong Kong racing.
The dual Hong Kong Horse of the Year won eight Group One races in Hong Kong with earnings north of HK$106 million (NZ$19.6 million).
The son of Road to Rock was purchased out of Highden Park’s 2014 New Zealand Bloodstock Select Yearling Sale by Kylie Bax under her Hermes Syndications banner for $60,000.
