Golden Sixty may be vulnerable in Hong Kong Classic Cup

Ten are entered in a fascinating renewal of the $1.28 million Hong Kong Classic Cup, middle leg of the 4-year-old classic series in Hong Kong.

Golden Sixty already scored a sparkling victory in the Hong Kong Classic Mile but must show he can race as effectively over 1,800 meters (about 1 1/8 miles) in Sunday’s start, to say nothing of the 2,000 meter test that would await him in the Hong Kong Derby.

Besides giving the impression he might at heart be a miler, Golden Sixty got sick after winning the Classic Mile on Jan. 27. He’s recovered and is said by trainer Francis Lui to be training well enough to start, but Golden Sixty’s preparation for the Classic Cup, a one-turn race that starts on a backstretch chute, obviously has been less than ideal.

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Golden Sixty, a Medaglia d’Oro gelding, lost the last of his four starts during the 2018-19 Hong Kong season but won his other eight races, three last season and five more during his ongoing campaign. Golden Sixty has shown the speed to succeed at 1,200 meters and has comfortably gotten a mile, never more impressively than in his most recent start, where he blew open the Classic Mile in upper stretch with an electric turn of foot under regular rider Vincent Ho.

Golden Sixty finished 1 1/4 lengths in front of stablemate More Than This in the Classic Mile, and More Than This has a solid chance to turn the tables Sunday. His training for the Classic Cup has been uninterrupted and there’s little doubt that his chances of beating Golden Sixty increase with every furlong past one mile. In the Classic Mile, More Than This lagged at the rear of the field despite being ridden along in the early stages and he only really hit full stride with about 200 meters to go. By then, Golden Sixty had put the race to bed and Ho had taken his foot off the gas as More Than This closed late ground on the winner. Zac Purton takes the mount Sunday, replaying Ryan Moore, who winds up on a Champion’s Way.

Champion’s Way, one of two entered by Hong Kong legend John Size, finished a solid third in the Hong Kong Mile but appears to lack the upside of a couple of his rivals and the raw talent of a horse like Golden Sixty. Size’s other entrant, Beauty Legacy, holds more appeal Sunday, as he makes just his third start in Hong Kong after being imported from Australia, where he was Group 2 winner and finished second in the Group 1 Australian Guineas last spring. Beauty Legacy won a Class 2 handicap over 1,400 meters in his Hong Kong debut and rallied from eighth to finish fourth in the Classic Mile. Beauty Legacy fought for his head early in that race and generally has shown signs of being too aggressive, Size said, but both trainer and jockey Joao Moreira have worked to settle Beauty Legacy, lessons that he put to good use when he outfinished Champions Way to cross the line first in a recent Sha Tin barrier trial (training race).

One more horse worth mentioning is the John Moore-trained Enjoying, who got into a world of trouble when finishing ninth in his Class 2 handicap prep for the Classic Cup. Australian star jockey Hugh Bowman takes over riding duties in the Classic Cup, which is carded as race 7, post time 2:20 a.m. Eastern on Sunday.