Golden Sixty has home-field advantage in Hong Kong Mile

You would think, on the surface of things, that a horse coming off a win in the Breeders’ Cup Mile would have an edge over a Hong Kong-based horse who never has even raced in a Group 1 or Grade 1. But there is something about the rhythms and dynamics of Hong Kong races that lends considerable advantage to horses based on the circuit, and Golden Sixty, the big local hope for the Group 1, $3.23 million Hong Kong Mile on Sunday at Sha Tin, is no ordinary local hope.

Golden Sixty pressed the pace and faded to 10th in a Class 3 handicap in his fourth career start back in July 2019. He has made 13 other starts and won them all, sweeping Hong Kong’s version of the Triple Crown during the 2019-2020 racing season and toying with his competition in three races this term. The Hong Kong Mile has been his target for months, and Golden Sixty stands a great chance of hitting the mark.

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Among his nine rivals is Order of Australia, who posted one of the biggest upsets in Breeders’ Cup history when he led an Aidan O’Brien-trained sweep of the top three placings last month at Keeneland in the BC Mile. Order of Australia was a 73-1 shot at Keeneland owing to serious questions of quality and distance, but he always traveled sweetly in the race under Pierre-Charles Boudot, who has the mount again Sunday, and held off Circus Maximus to win by a neck. Order of Australia raced on Lasix at Keeneland but raceday medications are prohibited in Hong Kong. He breaks from post 1 and should get first run on Golden Sixty – which probably won’t matter.

Trained by Francis Lui and ridden by Ricky Yu, both Hong Kong natives, Golden Sixty tuned up for Sunday’s engagement winning the Jockey Club Mile on Nov. 22 by 1 1/2 lengths, blistering his final 400 meters in 21.89 seconds. Golden Sixty’s sharp acceleration propels him to the lead with such ease that he tends to pull himself up after hitting the front, and this gelding, an Australian-bred by Medaglia d’Oro, probably has more to give if required on Sunday.

One other European, Romanised, has shipped for the Mile, but he is in very deep based on his 2020 form. More formidable is Japan-based Admire Mars, who won the 2019 Hong Kong Mile by a half-length over Waikuku. Admire Mars has been campaigned sparingly since, but his two starts this fall, most recently a solid third in the Group 1 Mile Championship, suggest he brings form comparable to last December.

Christophe Soumillon had been scheduled to ride Admire Mars, but wasn’t able to clear Hong Kong Jockey Club protocols in time for Sunday’s card and has been replaced by Ryan Moore.

Waikuku, meanwhile, hasn’t raced since a third-place finish April 26 in the Group 1 Champions Mile. Trainer John Size wouldn’t be in the race were Waikuku not set for at least a representative performance, but winning would be a lot to ask.

Beauty Generation was third in the 2019 Hong Kong Mile after winning the race in 2017 and 2018, but the 8-year-old former champion has looked a shadow of his former self in two races this season.

Classique Legend tops Sprint

It seems like Classique Legend is the best sprinter based in Hong Kong. Sunday, he can go out and prove that in his Hong Kong debut in the Group 1, $2.84 million Hong Kong Sprint.

Classique Legend has some Hong Kong owners but was based in Australia until this fall, when he shipped to Hong Kong and was transferred to trainer Caspar Fownes. Fownes for weeks cautioned that Classique Legend was on a tight schedule to get right for the HK Sprint, but the trainer’s confidence appears to have risen.

“He’s starting to wake up, and he’s starting to come at the right time,” Fownes told HKJC publicity earlier this week.

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Classique Legend won a pair of Group 2 Sprints in Australia before capturing the $18.8 million Everest Stakes over 1,200 meters, the same trip as the HK Sprint, on Oct. 17. Vincent Ho rides Sunday and will have to work out a trip from post 1, which is 0 for 14 in the Hong Kong Sprint.

Classique Legend, however, steps into a division that has looked light. Hot King Prawn, a close second in the 2019 Sprint, has the best chance of the local contingent. He exits a solid victory in the Jockey Club Sprint, his prep for Sunday’s start.

Exultant, Mogul head Vase

A year ago, Exultant might have run too fast in his prep for the Group 1 Hong Kong Vase to deliver a top performance on the big day. This year, either Tony Cruz has taken a more patient approach with Hong Kong’s 2019-2020 Horse of the Year, or Exultant just isn’t as good.

Exultant finished second in his first start this season and was a soundly beaten second Nov. 22 in his Vase prep, but those two starts could have him primed for a peak stretching to a 2,400-meter trip that Exultant enjoys.

There are only six others in the Vase, with the Aidan O’Brien-trained Mogul apparently the strongest of them. Mogul didn’t make a huge mark in the BC Turf, finishing fifth, beaten three lengths, but he’d previously won the Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp and seems still to be growing into himself at the end of his 3-year-old season.