It seems the torch has passed to a new generation in Hong Kong as Golden Sixty rolled to his ninth straight victory Oct. 18 at Sha Tin Racecourse with would-be rival Beauty Generation left well in his wake.
In the end, it was Ka Ying Star who offered up the toughest challenge in the Oriental Watch Sha Tin Trophy (G2), holding on stubbornly after leading into the stretch. Golden Sixty, after a wide trip from the middle of the field, led for the last 200 meters but was never able to land a knockout blow and won by only a half-length.
Beauty Generation, the 8-year-old two-time Hong Kong Horse of the Year, raced just back of Ka Ying Sar and had every chance but found no punch in the stretch run and finished sixth, beaten 3 1/2 lengths.
Golden Sixty's jockey, Vincent Ho, admitted the Medaglia d'Oro gelding, who turned 5 by Southern Hemisphere reckoning on July 1, needed some encouragement once he seized the lead.
"He jumped well," Ho said. "We sat behind the pace and they went really slow. When the other horse accelerated a bit I just gave him a reminder. He's a very smart horse.
"He's come on really well and today he settled a lot more, really well behind the gate and inside the gate, he was so relaxed and with each run his fitness is coming on," Ho said. "He does switch off. Two, maybe three strides after he hits the front, he always does. That's why he never wins by huge margins."
But he does win. The nine-race streak includes a sweep of last season's Four-Year-Old Classic Series, ending with a victory in the BMW Hong Kong Derby. Golden Sixty, trained by Francis Lui, did not venture into group stakes competition after that tour de force and faced older rivals for the first time in his seasonal debut in the Celebration Cup (G3) at Sha Tin Sept. 27.
He won that by 1 3/4 lengths with Beauty Generation settling for a dead-heat second with Champion's Way.
Beauty Generation is a two-time winner of the Longines Hong Kong Mile (G1) and the Dec. 13 renewal of that race is a natural target for both him and, now, for Golden Sixty. Lui previously had not committed to the Mile, holding out the possibility Golden Sixty could be pushed to the 2,000 meters (about 1 1/4 miles) of the Longines Hong Kong Cup (G1).
"Before the race I was a bit nervous," Lui said. "But now I'm happy. The horse, his mind and fitness is improving, we'll keep him at the same distance."
Southern Legend was third in the Sha Tin Trophy and also remains a candidate for the December event.
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