'Sprint king' Lucky Sweynesse barely comes off the bridle in dominant Sha Tin win

Hong Kong darling Golden Sixty, arguably the jurisdiction's greatest ever horse, showed just why he is revered in such depth when capturing the FWD Champions Mile at Sha Tin on Sunday.

Trained by Francis Lui and ridden by Vincent Ho, the record-breaking gelding was completing a hat-trick in the race and took his record to 25 wins from 29 starts in the process.

That haul includes a phenomenal run of 16 straight successes and nine of his victories have been at the highest level.

Ho, the only jockey to have ridden Golden Sixty, said: "Thank you to all the racing fans. I'm really grateful to be on this horse. He's such a superstar.

"I'm very happy for him. He looks around and enjoys the crowd – it's his home turf.

"I told myself before the race to try to enjoy every moment with Golden Sixty because he's seven now. We don't know when he'll retire, so it's best to enjoy every step with him. I'm nothing without him, so all the credit goes to him."

No horse trained in the region has won more prize-money than the son of Medaglia d'Oro, who was bred in Australia but has won the hearts of Hong Kong's racing public.

Settled in fourth from stall seven, Golden Sixty was urged forward by Ho before the turn for home as main rival and old foe California Spangle, the last horse to defeat the superstar, took the nine-runner field along.

In the straight, there looked little doubt what the result would be as the fan favourite travelled powerfully before quickening clear to repel Beauty Joy, with California Spangle third.

ITV Racing's Francesca Cumani was at Sha Tin for the Hong Kong Jockey Club's broadcast and, like everyone else, was impressed.

She said: "He is an absolute star. Having seen him so much from abroad, to be able to be here today to see him in person is a real treat.

"I think what I've really observed about him is that not only is he a phenomenal racehorse, but he comes across as such an intelligent character as well. I love the fact he had his ears pinned back as Vincent was asking him for his effort, but as soon as they'd crossed the line and that effort eased, his ears flicked forward and, even coming back in, he's taking it all in. He clearly enjoys what he does and I think he knows he's the king of the castle."

Romantic Warrior: big win for the five-year-old

Ultimate Warrior

Big-race favourite backers on the Sha Tin card were able to smile after the FWD QEII Cup, which was landed by Romantic Warrior with the William Haggas-trained Dubai Honour finishing third under Tom Marquand.

The winner was repeating his success in the race from 12 months ago and was following up his course-and-distance strike in the Longines Hong Kong Cup in December.

Bought in Newmarket as a yearling in 2019 by Mick Kinane, Romantic Warrior was pre-trained at Manton by Brian Meehan and has flourished in Hong Kong.

He had impressed in the contest last year and did so again in the hands of James McDonald, who said of Danny Shum's representative: "That was superb – how good are the Hong Kong horses? They're flying today. It was great to be on him and he put in a performance like he did in December. It was a spectacular performance and there was not one part of the race I thought he was not right. 

"He was always going to explode for me and the race panned out beautifully. He's a world-class horse and it took an absolute weapon [Golden Sixty] to run him down last time. He's a great 2,000-metre horse and I really enjoy riding him."

Behind Romantic Warrior was Japanese raider Prognosis, while Dubai Honour, who had shone for Haggas in Australia this year winning the Ranvet Stakes and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, ran on for a respectable third.

Lucky Sweynesse is all class in the hands of Zac Purton

Lucky Sweynesse confirms 'sprint king' status

Lucky Sweynesse, the dominant speed force in Hong Kong, emerged as a world leader in that division when barely coming off the bridle to win the Chairman's Sprint Prize.

He was beaten in December's Longines Hong Kong Sprint, but has now swept to five victories in a row.

By winning the £2.1 million prize, he was adding to top-level triumphs in the Centenary Sprint Cup and Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup.

Zac Purton, a five-time champion jockey in Hong Kong who is soon to take that figure to six, partnered the Manfred Man-trained champion.

"He's just getting better," Purton said. "I'm going to have a lot of fun with him next season. He was very good today. They made him work early to get the position he got and he wasn't able to get into his rhythm for some time, but once he did he travelled beautifully and then it was a matter of trying to conserve some energy so he had something left.

"He's clearly the new sprint king in Hong Kong." 

Three and a quarter lengths behind the New Zealand-bred Lucky Sweynesse was Courier Wonder, while Wellington, who has twice beaten the 1-5 winner this season including in the Hong Kong Sprint, was third.

Flaming Rib, trained in Cheshire by Hugo Palmer, made little impact under Tom Marquand and finished seventh of the eight runners.

Read these next:

Do you want £200+ of free bets? Racing Post have got the best offers, all in one place. Visit racingpost.com/freebets