{"id":31424,"date":"2022-11-15T14:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-15T06:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ctr-campaigns.hkjc.com\/hkir\/?p=31424"},"modified":"2022-11-15T16:44:18","modified_gmt":"2022-11-15T08:44:18","slug":"the-wait-is-almost-over-as-golden-sixty-returns-to-action-this-sunday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/hkir\/en\/news\/the-wait-is-almost-over-as-golden-sixty-returns-to-action-this-sunday","title":{"rendered":"The wait is almost over as Golden Sixty returns to action this Sunday"},"content":{"rendered":"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”31427″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Carrying the weight of Hong Kong and more on his shoulders, Golden Sixty will make his highly anticipated return to racing in Sunday\u2019s (20 November) G2 BOCHK Private Wealth<\/em> Jockey Club Mile (1600m) as trainer Francis Lui plots a third straight win in December\u2019s G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Mile (1600m) with the champion racehorse.<\/p>

Speaking at trackwork this morning (Tuesday, 15 November), Lui affirmed the reigning two-time Hong Kong Horse of the Year (2020\/21 & 2021\/22) is ready ahead of his reappearance as he chases a hat-trick of wins in this weekend\u2019s HK$5 million mile race.<\/p>

\u201cHe\u2019s fit, it\u2019s his first time running this season but he\u2019s fit. He\u2019s more mature and relaxed,\u201d Lui said. \u201cHe\u2019s still strong enough and hopefully he can do the same again this season.\u201d<\/p>

A 21-time winner in Hong Kong, Golden Sixty returns this time around as a seven-year-old with HK$113,400,600 banked and six Group 1 wins \u2013 figures Lui hopes to better.<\/p>

\u201cWe do the same with him, there are no changes. In trackwork he is the same but in the stable you have to be careful if you go inside his box \u2013 even if you touch him, you have to be careful,\u201d Lui said.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]

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Golden Sixty wins the 2021 G2 BOCHK Private Wealth Jockey Club Mile (1600m).<\/p>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Golden Sixty faces six rivals this weekend: California Spangle, More Than This, Turin Redsun, Kings Shield, Waikuku and Excellent Proposal, while Lui remains unconcerned regarding the quirks that small fields can present at times.<\/p>

\u201cSometimes if it\u2019s a full field he has to tail off with a bad draw but against a small field, it\u2019s better, even if the pace isn\u2019t fast enough,\u201d Lui said.<\/p>

Vincent Ho will be in the plate as always on race day after partnering Golden Sixty in a gallop on the turf this morning at Sha Tin, clocking 1m 19.60s (29.1, 28.8, 21.7) alongside stablemate Highland Fortune.<\/p>

California Spangle \u2013 one of Hong Kong\u2019s most rapidly improving prospects \u2013 is the likely leader of the race this weekend, while Golden Sixty should do the chasing from the tail of the field as per usual.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cCalifornia Spangle is up-and-coming, Golden Sixty is a seven-year-old so he can only keep his form, while California Spangle can improve and maybe one day he can beat my horse but you never know which race,\u201d Lui said.<\/p>

The last time the pair met, Golden Sixty won the 2022 G1 FWD Champions Mile (1600m) in April, while California Spangle filled second a further two lengths away.<\/p>

Ahead of Golden Sixty\u2019s return, Lui has a four runners at Happy Valley on Wednesday night (16 November): Gold Gold Baby, Gallant Waking, The Irishman and Rising From Ashes.<\/p>

Gold Gold Baby shoots for a hat-trick of wins in the Class 4 Nakayama Handicap (1200m) after twice prevailing over 1000m this term, while Gallant Waking \u2013 if improvement permits \u2013 could be on a 2023 Four-Year-Old Classic Series trail.<\/p>

\u201cGallant Waking is ok, he doesn’t have a good draw but we\u2019ll see how he goes in this race, and if he keeps improving we might think about the Four-Year-Old Classic Series. He keeps improving but it\u2019s not a big improvement each time, just step-by-step,\u201d Lui said.<\/p>

Gallant Waking lines up in the Class 3 Japan Racing Association Trophy Handicap (1200m) under Vincent Ho and the pair steps away from gate 12.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”31428″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

The Irishman was impressive for Lui last start with victory at Sha Tin and will tackle the Class 2 Tokyo Handicap (1650m) as one of two in the race for owner Edmond Lee who is also represented by the Peter Ho-trained Packing Award.<\/p>

\u201cHe\u2019s (The Irishman) doing well. His rating (97) at the moment, there\u2019s not much choice, so we have to try him at Happy Valley. You never know if it will suit him,\u201d Lui said.<\/p>

Lui\u2019s final chance at the midweek fixture comes with Rising From Ashes who features in the Class 3 Hanshin Handicap (1650m) after charging into second place last start.<\/p>

\u201cHe\u2019s (Rising From Ashes) a skinny horse but he\u2019s honest and he always tries his best,\u201d Lui said.<\/p>

Following Zac Purton\u2019s withdrawal from Wednesday due to COVID, Hugh Bowman was set to be a prime beneficiary of his compatriot\u2019s absence, however, Bowman was then ruled out as a close contact, opening the door for Jye McNeil to partner the last-start winning Comet Splendido in the Hanshin Handicap for Danny Shum.<\/p>

\u201cHe\u2019s got the right profile to suggest a good run tomorrow night, he\u2019s drawn well and he seems to be going the right way to potentially give me my first victory. It\u2019s unfortunate for Hugh Bowman but my benefit,\u201d McNeil said.<\/p>

Wednesday\u2019s (16 November) nine-race fixture at Happy Valley kicks off with the first section of the Class 5 Fukushima Handicap (1200m).<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”31427″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Carrying the weight of Hong Kong and more on his shoulders, Golden Sixty will make his highly anticipated return to racing in Sunday\u2019s (20 November) G2 BOCHK Private Wealth Jockey Club Mile (1600m) as trainer Francis Lui plots a third straight win in December\u2019s G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Mile (1600m) with… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":31430,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"2normal","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31424"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31424"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31424\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31440,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31424\/revisions\/31440"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}