Hong Kong: California Spangle upsets Golden Sixty in HK Mile

The claim on best horse in Hong Kong may have shifted Sunday at Sha Tin, where superstar miler Golden Sixty went down to defeat in the Hong Kong Mile and rising star Romantic Warrior scored a breathtaking victory in the Hong Kong Cup.

Romantic Warrior can’t hold a candle to Golden Sixty’s accomplishments – not yet, at least - but pound for pound he could be the superior performer after posting a dominant 4 1/2-length win in the $4.37 million Hong Kong Cup, the feature on the annual Hong Kong International Races program.

The first real HKIR crowd since the outbreak of COVID-19 came in great part to cheer Golden Sixty, who was seeking his third win in the $3.85 million Mile, but raucous cheers in the race’s final stages turned to appreciative applause as Golden Sixty came back to be unsaddled after falling a neck short of fellow Hong Kong-based California Spangle.

California Spangle’s win, under a perfectly timed ride from leading jockey Zac Purton, might also have signaled a passing of the torch in the mile division. A 4-year-old like Romantic Warrior, California Spangle had been defeated last spring by Golden Sixty at level weights, and last month, in the Jockey Club Mile, he was unable to hold clear Golden Sixty’s late flurry despite getting five pounds and an easy lead on a 7-year-old making his first start after a long layoff.

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Golden Sixty was supposed to improve in the Hong Kong Mile, but instead it was California Spangle who took a step forward. Leading during the early stages of the one-turn mile, California Spangle was displaced on the turn when his Tony Cruz-trained stablemate Beauty Joy made an aggressive early move to take the lead past the 800-meter mark. Vincent Ho and Golden Sixty had secured a lovely spot through the first 200 meters, sitting on the rail in fourth behind the speed, but Beauty Joy’s burst caught Ho and his mount somewhat flat-footed, and as California Spangle let out another notch to stick to Beauty Joy’s tail, Golden Sixty gave up several lengths that would prove costly in the end.

Into the homestretch, California Spangle came outside Beauty Joy, nosing in front at the 300-meter mark as Golden Sixty came into full stride on the far outside. Twenty-two times from 25 starts, Golden Sixty’s closing kick had been enough to get him home. Winning the Mile in 2020, he clocked 22.05 for his final 400 meters, and his closing split in 2021 was 22.43, but Sunday the fraction was 22.98 and it was not quite good enough.

Give credit to California Spangle, by Starspangledbanner out of Pearlitas Passion, by High Chaparral, whose record now stands at 9-5-0 from 14 starts. California Spangle paid $6.40 and clocked 1:33.41 over good ground, a standard time for the race. The gelding, still improving, has the psychological capacity to make the most of his excellent speed; he has improved steadily for Cruz and ought to have further development in him. But the Australian shipper Laws of Indices, a good horse far from great, finished only about one length behind Golden Sixty in third, suggesting that in the end, Golden Sixty did not deliver his top performance Sunday.

Romantic Warrior ran the top race of his career, and the scary thing, considering his wide margin of victory in the Cup, is that there could be more to come.

Trained by Clifford Shum, Romantic Warrior, an Irish-bred gelding by Acclamation out of Folk Melody, by Street Cry, was purchased unraced at a Hong Kong auction and began his career with two starts at Happy Valley Racecourse. Happy Valley is the city track, where Wednesday night cards typically feature the lower echelons of Hong Kong’s Thoroughbred population, the stars waiting to come out at Sha Tin. Romantic Warrior won both those races, has not been back to The Valley since, and with better luck might be unbeaten now after 10 starts. Last season, he won two-thirds of the 4-year-old Classic Series, the Hong Kong Classic Mile and the Hong Kong Derby, and his fourth-place finish in the Hong Kong Classic Cup came after an extremely wide trip with no cover from post 13.

There was little jockey Karis Teetan could do in the Classic Cup and this season Teetan, sidelined with a thyroid issue, has played spectator as Australian rider James McDonald has filled in aboard Romantic Warrior. The gelding is so good, the jockey on his back might not much matter. Breaking on top in the 2,000-meter Cup, which starts just before the first of two turns, Romantic Warrior soon was displaced by need-the-lead Japanese raider Panthalassa, who broke poorly and was rushed to the front. Romantic Warrior steadied slightly as Panthalassa crossed in front of him, but that proved the only thing close to an anxious moment for the heavy favorite.

Racing fifth and sixth, two paths off the rail down the backstretch, Romantic Warrior traveled sweetly, in hand, in the bridle, poised to fire, and when McDonald spun him wide past the 500-meter mark, Romantic Warrior was ready. Responding to one mild cross thrown by McDonald, Romantic Warrior caught the leaders at the 300-meter mark and with 200 meters to go was well clear and in full flight. Danon the Kid, one of five very good Japanese runners, came closest to Romantic Warrior, but he wasn’t close at all, beaten more than four lengths while three-quarters of a length better than Hong Kong-based Money Catcher.

“I promise you, that was really as good as it looked,” McDonald told Hong Kong Jockey Club publicity. “He was perfect from start to finish today.”

Romantic Warrior paid $3.70 and was timed in 1:59.70, the fastest time in the 24 renewals of the Cup contested over 2,000 meters. Connections will try for Hong Kong’s version of the Triple Crown: The Stewards’ Cup over 1,600 meters, the Hong Kong Gold Cup at 2,000 meters, and the Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup over 1 1/2 miles.

The Mile and the Cup came after less-thrilling Group 1 races in the $3.08 million Sprint and the $2.83 million Vase.

Six-year-old Wellington, for now, is the best sprinter in Hong Kong after posting a three-quarters-length victory in the Sprint for trainer Richard Gibson and jockey Ryan Moore. Moore picked up the mount because regular rider Alexis Badel is out of action with a shoulder injury. Wellington ($8.30) has won the Group 1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize, an April race, the last two seasons and in the 2021 HK Sprint was badly hampered by a breakdown that affected nearly half the field. The gelding won his last three starts of the 2020-21 season and rebounded smartly from a sixth-place finish in his prep for Sunday’s race. Closing from 10th behind a moderate tempo, Wellington collared pacesetter Sight Success in the final furlong, the latter holding second by a half-length over Sky Field.

By All Too Hard, out of Mihiri, by More than Ready, Wellington was timed in 1:08.09 for 1,200 meters and was mentioned as a candidate for the 2023 Royal Ascot meeting.

The Japanese contingent pulled out one Group 1 on the day, thanks to Win Marilyn’s 1 1/2-length victory in the 2,400-meter Vase. Winning for the first time at the Group 1 level, Win Marilyn clocked a strong 46.92 for her final 400 meters, rallying from 10th under Damian Lane and flying past pacepressing French shipper Botanik in the final furlong. Glory Vase, seeking his third win the Vase, finished third as Breeders’ Cup Turf runner-up Stone Age pulled too hard for his head throughout the race and checked in an even fifth. The German horse Mendocino reared as the gates sprang at the start and never broke.

Trained by Takahisa Tezuka, Win Marilyn is by Screen Hero out of Cosmo Cielo, by Fusaichi Pegasus. Her winning time was 2:27.53 and she paid $13.10.

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