Hong Kong superstar Golden Sixty has re-entered the Thoroughbred Racing Commentary Global Rankings at #5 after his thrilling return to action last weekend at Sha Tin [Nov 20].
The seven-year-old charged home to beat old rival California Spangle to complete a hat-trick in the BOCHK Private Wealth-sponsored Jockey Club Mile, the designated G2 trial for the Longines Hong Kong Mile on December 11.
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Although the winning margin was only a neck, this was an impressive display on seasonal debut as the runner-up had the run of the race setting moderate fractions up front. Showing he has lost none of his zip, Golden Sixty clocked 21.32s for the final 400 metres.
“I knew Golden Sixty would have the heart to run him down but he's only 80% fit, so the last bit is his mental toughness,” said jockey Vincent Ho.
The highest-earning horse in the history of racing in the region, Golden Sixty enhanced his career bankroll to HK$116,250,600 ($14.9m/£12.5m). “Definitely all credit to him and the team – we're looking forward to December now,” added his jockey.
“It was crawling at first and the turn I knew, around the 600 that Zac will pick up the pace for sure, so I was just keeping an eye on what he was doing and I had to come out and make my move earlier.”
Golden Sixty is a former world #1 – but as he had not run since April, his name left the charts before Sunday’s return to action. Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Flightline is the current world #1 – though he has been retired and will exit the rankings once six months have elapsed following his most recent run.
On the same card at Sha Tin, HK Derby winner Romantic Warrior (#31) took his career record to eight wins from nine starts in the Jockey Club Cup under world #1 jockey James McDonald.
Elsewhere on the horse racing planet, Peruvian-trained three-year-old Paradigma (+170pts, #57 from #182) became his nation’s highest-ever ranked horse as he completed the national Triple Crown in the Derby Nacional at Monterrico in Lima.
Trained Juan Suarez Villaroel – the world’s winningmost trainer of all-time with 10,258 victories according to Pagina de Turf– Paradigma was the country’s first Triple Crown winner for … 12 months, since Super Nao also achieved the feat. At his zenith, the latter reached a career high #63 on the TRC rankings.
• Visit the Hong Kong Jockey Club website
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