WEIGHING UP THE NEXT BIG RACE OPTIONS FOR GOLDEN SIXTY. CONNECTIONS ARE SPOILT FOR CHOICE

By Graham Potter | Monday, January 30, 2023

It was billed to be one of the races of the season ... a three-way showdown between the champion Golden Sixty and the heir apparent duo of Romantic Warrior and California Spangle ... but it ultimately provided the stage on which Golden Sixty reiterated that fact that he stands alone as the best horse in Hong Kong.

That’s twenty-three wins from twenty-seven starts now for Golden Sixty with this latest victory in the Group 1 Steward’s Cup pushing his already record prize-money earnings to a new high of HK$129,690,600.

The next obvious local assignment for Golden Sixty would be the Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup on February 26 but, with still much to gain but little left to prove at home, it is not surprising that trainer Francis Lui is now looking for bigger challenges.

“I still would like to go overseas. We have to see how he pulls up and we’ll discuss with the team,” said Lui.

Options being considered are the Dubai Turf, a Group 1 contest over 1800m at Meydan Racecourse on March 25 and the Group 1 Yasuda Kinen over 1600m in Tokyo on June 4.

Wherever he goes next, the seven-year-old will have star ranking.

With all superior horses, it would be nice to see Golden Sixty tested out of comfort zone, in an ‘away game’ on the broader international stage, but we’ll have to wait and see whether Lui puts his champion on that path, or not .

Being spoilt for choice is always a nice problem to have.

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