Racing fans of international events will have to get up early (or stay up late?) on Sunday, December 12 to watch the big card of racing at Hong Kong’s Sha Tin racecourse headlined by the $3.8 million Hong Kong Cup (G1). The Longines Hong Kong International races will be shown on HPIBet.com with a first race post time for the card of 11:25 p.m. Saturday night. The Cup goes at 3:30 a.m. Sunday morning.
Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1) winner LOVES ONLY YOU, Japan’s first-ever Breeders’ Cup winner, will wrap up her remarkable career in the Cup against the boys and is currently the lukewarm 4-to-1 morning line favourite in the field of 12. Among her rivals are European stars DUBAI HONOUR and BOLSHOI BALLET and the Hong Kong mare LEI PAPALE.
In the Hong Kong International Mile (G1) GOLDEN SIXTY is gunning for yet another victory.
Gearing up for his toughest test to date and the chance to create history, Hong Kong’s Horse of the Year Golden Sixty will step away from barrier two in Sunday’s (12 December) HK$26 million G1 Longines Hong Kong Mile (1600m), much to the satisfaction of trainer Francis Lui at this morning’s (Thursday, 9 December) barrier draw at Sha Tin.
“He is all ready and we’re hoping that luck will come to my team and my owner – and to me too,” Lui said. “Barrier two is ok – we’ll just relax him and wait for the straight, and then we can just let him go.”
This weekend, the six-year-old son of Medaglia d’Oro will bid to extend his winning streak to 16 and his overall tally to 19 wins – a new local record in Hong Kong.
“We are very happy with him, he came out of that first run very well – in that race over the first 800 (metres) the pace was very slow, that gave the other horses a little trouble but Golden Sixty, he just has a very good turn of foot now – he knows where the finish is.
“Honestly, the trials he’s had didn’t show much. I think he hadn’t run for a few months’ time and when it came time to run that first time he showed he is more mature, more relaxed and more comfortable,” Lui said.
Golden Sixty shares the current mantle of 18 wins in town with Silent Witness and Beauty Generation. And Lui describes the quirky but incredibly talented gelding as the horse of a lifetime.
Golden Sixty seeks his 16th straight win in the Hong Kong International Mile, a race he won in 2020. Hong Kong Jockey Club photo
Preview of all four Group 1’s on Hong Kong INternational racing night can be found here.
Sunday, Sha Tin, Hong Kong, post time: 3:30 a.m. Dec 12
LONGINES HONG KONG CUP-G1, HK$30,000,000 (£2,913,356/€3,394,810/A$5,268,927/US$3,847,229), 3yo/up, 2000mT (PPs)
SC PP HORSE SIRE JOCKEY TRAINER WT
1 6 Ka Ying Star (GB) Cityscape (GB) Chadwick Cruz 126
2 1 Panfield (Chi) Lookin At Lucky Teetan Millard 126
3 8 Glorious Dragon (Ire) Teofilo (Ire) Purton Lui 126
4 12 Hishi Iguazu (Jpn) Heart’s Cry (Jpn) Moreira Hori 126
5 10 Russian Emperor (Ire) Galileo (Ire) Shinn Whyte 126
6 11 Tourbillon Diamond (Aus) Olympic Glory (Ire) Badel Shum 126
7 5 Berlin Tango (GB) Dansili (GB) Ho Cruz 126
8 7 Dubai Honour (Ire) Pride of Dubai (Aus) Marquand Haggas 123
9 2 Mac Swiney (Ire) New Approach (Ire) Manning Bolger 123
10 9 Bolshoi Ballet (Ire) Galileo (Ire) Moore O’Brien 123
11 3 Lei Papale (Jpn) (f) Deep Impact (Jpn) Soumillon Takano 122
12 4 Loves Only You (Jpn) (f) Deep Impact (Jpn) Kawada Yahagi 122
Sunday, Sha Tin, Hong Kong,
LONGINES HONG KONG MILE-G1, HK$26,000,000 (£2,524,877/€2,942,208/A$4,653,070/US$3,334,265), 3yo/up, 1600mT (PPs)
SC PP HORSE SIRE JOCKEY TRAINER WT
1 2 Golden Sixty (Aus) Medaglia d’Oro Ho Lui 126
2 9 Danon Kingly (Jpn) Deep Impact (Jpn) Kawada Hagiwara 126
3 6 Indy Champ (Jpn) Stay Gold (Jpn) Fukunaga Otonashi 126
4 8 Waikuku (Ire) Harbour Watch (Ire) Purton Size 126
5 5 More Than This (GB) Dutch Art (GB) Leung Shum 126
6 1 Salios (Jpn) Heart’s Cry (Jpn) Lane Hori 126
7 3 Vin de Garde (Jpn) Deep Impact (Jpn) Teetan Fujiwara 126
8 10 Sky Darci (NZ) Darci Brahma (NZ) Moreira Fownes 126
9 7 Excellent Proposal (Aus) Exceed and Excel (Aus) Shinn Size 126
10 11 Lucky Express (Aus) Toronado (Ire) Hamelin Size 126
11 4 Mother Earth (Ire) (f) Zoffany (Ire) Moore O’Brien 121
LONGINES HONG KONG SPRINT-G1, HK$24,000,000 (£2,330,656/€2,716,884/A$4,295,672/US$3,077,850), 3yo/up, 1200mT (PPs)
SC PP HORSE SIRE JOCKEY TRAINER WT
1 2 Hot King Prawn (Aus) Denman (Aus) Moore Size 126
2 8 Pixie Knight (Jpn) Maurice (Jpn) Fukunaga Otonashi 126
3 10 Danon Smash (Jpn) Lord Kanaloa (Jpn) Kawada Yasuda 126
4 11 Wellington (Aus) All Too Hard (Aus) Badel Gibson 126
5 9 Lucky Patch (NZ) El Roca (Aus) Purton Lui 126
6 1 Sky Field (Aus) Deep Field (Aus) Shinn Fownes 126
7 3 Computer Patch (Aus) Exceed and Excel (Aus) Lane Cruz 126
8 6 Naboo Attack (Aus) Warhead (Aus) Teetan Hayes 126
9 12 Amazing Star (NZ) Darci Brahma (NZ) Hewitson Ting 126
10 4 Stronger (Aus) Not A Single Doubt (Aus) Ho Whyte 126
11 5 Courier Wonder (NZ) Sacred Falls (NZ) Moreira Size 126
12 7 Resistencia (Jpn) (f) Daiwa Major (Jpn) Soumillon Matsushita 122
Sunday, Sha Tin, Hong Kong
LONGINES HONG KONG VASE-G1, HK$20,000,000 (£1,942,213/€2,263,237/A$3,579,727/US$2,564,875), 3yo/up, 2400mT (PPs)
SC PP HORSE SIRE JOCKEY TRAINER WT
1 3 Pyledriver (GB) Harbour Watch (Ire) Dwyer Muir 126
2 7 Glory Vase (Jpn) Deep Impact (Jpn) Moreira Ozeki 126
3 6 Columbus County (NZ) Redwood (GB) Teetan Fownes 126
4 4 Stay Foolish (Jpn) Stay Gold (Jpn) Ho Yahagi 126
5 2 Mogul (GB) Galileo (Ire) Moore O’Brien 126
6 1 Reliable Team (NZ) Reliable Man (GB) Leung Lor 126
7 8 Butterfield (Brz) Setembro Chove (Brz) Lane Shum 126
8 5 Ebaiyra (f) Distorted Humor Soumillon de Royer-Dupre 122
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