Golden Sixty Repeats as Hong Kong's Horse of the Year

Golden Sixty (AUS)'s record-breaking performance during the 2021-22 racing season saw Hong Kong's champion earn consecutive Horse of the Year titles at a special presentation held at the Hong Kong Jockey Club's Happy Valley Clubhouse on July 15. The Francis Lui-trained 6-year-old's efforts also returned back-to-back champion miler titles and secured the bulk of the public vote as Hong Kong's Most Popular Horse for a third year in a row. After winning the BOCHK Private Wealth Jockey Club Mile (G2) in his seasonal return, the son of Medaglia d'Oro soared to new heights soon after with the successful defense of his Longines Hong Kong Mile (G1) crown—a result which saw him earn recognition as the world's joint-top miler at the year-end Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings. Though he suffered a pair of rare defeats in his following two outings as he failed to reach Silent Witness' record of 17 consecutive wins in Hong Kong, he soon recaptured his winning groove in the Chairman's Trophy (G2) before closing the season in emphatic style by landing the FWD Champions Mile (G1)—the 21st win of his career and second win in the race in as many years. Victory on FWD Champions Day saw Golden Sixty overtake Beauty Generation (NZ)as Hong Kong's highest prize-money earner in history with earnings of $14,378,987. Last term, Golden Sixty became the fourth horse in Hong Kong racing history after Good Ba Ba, Able Friend, and Beauty Generation to win the Horse of the Year title in the same season as both the Longines Hong Kong Mile and FWD Champions Mile, however, like Beauty Generation, Golden Sixty does so for the second consecutive year. Danny Shum-trainedRomantic Warrior (IRE) made history this season as the first graduate of the Hong Kong International Sale to snare the Hong Kong $24 million BMW Hong Kong Derby with a dramatic victory over California Spangle (IRE). The son of Acclamation (GB) then took it up a notch when he thrashed a group of older rivals in the FWD QEII Cup (G1) to join Werther (2016), Designs On Rome (2014), Ambitious Dragon (2011), and Vengeance of Rain (2005) as victors of the Hong Kong Derby-QEII Cup double in the same season. He also took top honors in the Hong Kong Classic Mile and, as such, he is a deserving recipient of both the Champion Middle-Distance Horse and champion 4-year-old awards. In addition, he was also named the season's Most Improved Horse after soaring 70 points to a career-high rating of 122 with seven wins from eight starts in just six months.