Francis Lui is pleased as Golden Sixty trials at Sha Tin

[Wandering Eyes]

Trainer Francis Lui declared Golden Sixty (Medaglia d’Oro) a ‘happy horse’ ahead of his highly anticipated return this season in either the Gr.2 BOCHK Private Wealth Jockey Club Mile (1600m) on 19 November or Gr.1 LONGINES Hong Kong Mile (1600m) on 10 December.

Initially slated to resume in the HK$32 million LONGINES Hong Kong Mile, Lui indicated that Hong Kong’s champion could initially chase winning a fourth straight HK$5.35 million BOCHK Private Wealth Jockey Club Mile after his galloper appeared in fine condition under jockey Vincent Ho at Sha Tin’s barrier trial session this morning (Tuesday, 17 October).

“We’ll see – maybe. Of course, the main target is the international. We can consider the Group 2, it all depends on how his condition is. He’ll trial again, once or twice and then we will decide,” Lui said.

Golden Sixty’s record-breaking exploits have resulted in him becoming the only nine-time Group 1 winner in Hong Kong, the highest prize money earner in history (HK$147.93 million) and the only three-straight Hong Kong Horse of the Year (2020/21, 2021/22 & 2022/23) recipient.

“He’s an older horse, a happy horse. He’s ok, Vincent was happy and said he was a little bit fat – of course, he hasn’t run for a long time,” Lui said.

The Medaglia d’Oro gelding has won 25 out of his 29 starts in Hong Kong.

Lui isn’t looking beyond his bid to capture a third LONGINES Hong Kong Mile success with Golden Sixty, instead opting to take it one run at a time beyond his main target in December with his superstar horse who collected three Group 1s last term.

“He’s an eight-year-old, I will just try to not run him too much. I’ll let the horse tell me what to do. It’s good to see him come back,” Lui said. “His character is still good, even his mind and inside the stable it is still strong.”

Golden Sixty won the 2020 and 2021 editions of the LONGINES Hong Kong Mile, while California Spangle thwarted his hat-trick bid in the 2022 renewal.

Golden Sixty was purchased as a two-year-old out of Riversley Park’s draft at the New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run sale.

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