Review: Gr.1 Longines Hong Kong Mile 2021

Nailing yet another heart-stopping win under jockey Vincent Ho, Hong Kong’s champion savoured the 19th win of his career to set a new record in town, surpassing the previous mantle of 18 he shared with Silent Witness and Beauty Generation, dating back to when the professional era of Hong Kong racing commenced in 1971.

Smashing a fine field of 10 others from Japan, Ireland and Hong Kong including this year’s Gr.1 Yasuda Kinen (1600m) winner (Danon Kingly), Golden Sixty enhanced his earnings to a mouth-watering HK$95.453 million with victory, just HK$10.78 million shy of the record mark (in Hong Kong) set by Beauty Generation (HK$106.233 million).

Racing in the silks of Stanley Chan Ka-Leung and trained by Francis Lui, Golden Sixty – ‘The Pride of Hong Kong’ – delivered a performance worthy of status as the world’s best miler.

Extending his winning sequence to 16, Ho dropped the Medaglia d’Oro gelding back to the second half of the field on the fence; in the straight, Ho weaved for an out, eventually taking a split at the 300m mark before his sparkling dash carried him to a one and three quarter length victory in a time of 1m 33.86s.

More Than This filled the second spot while Salios and Mother Earth grabbed third and fourth, respectively.

The success is the second at the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races for both Francis Lui and Vincent Ho, while today’s performance sees Golden Sixty remain unbeaten since September 2019.

A 6YO Golden Sixty – boasts eight wins over 1200m and 1400m, while twice he has stepped up to 2000m successfully, claiming the 2020 BMW Hong Kong Derby and 2021 Gr.1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup.