Aushorse launches Investors’ Guide as Golden Sixty sizzles
The Hong Kong Mile goes to Queensland-bred superstar as Sha Tin’s international meeting is held behind closed doors
Golden Sixty’s electrifying win in the Hong Kong Mile (Gr 1, 1600m) at Sha Tin yesterday could not have come at a more opportune time for Aushorse, with the Australian thoroughbred industry’s marketing arm launching its 2021 Investors’ Guide late last night.
The Francis Lui-trained Golden Sixty (5 g Medaglia d’Oro – Gaudeamus by Distorted Humor), bred by Queensland operation Element Hill, took his record to 14 wins from 15 starts with a scintillating win in the Hong Kong Mile, leading home an Australian-bred quinella with Southern Legend (Not A Single Doubt) in second.
Japan’s defending champion Admire Mars (Daiwa Major) was third, while Hong Kong’s all-time leading prize-money earner Beauty Generation (Road To Rock) – a two-time Hong Kong Mile winner – finished a game fifth and will retire to Living Legends in Melbourne.
“He’s amazing, isn’t he?” Golden Sixty’s jockey Vincent Ho said, moments after he crossed the line with a two-length margin on his rivals. “When I hit the top of the straight, I knew. I was just cruising and I didn’t think anyone could beat him in that sort of sprint.
“He’s a horse that really wants to compete, he’s the best horse in Hong Kong at the moment. Today is all about him.”
Added Lui: “I can have a good sleep tonight! I’m very happy – at the moment, I don’t know what to say, my heart is still pumping. As a jockey, as a trainer, as an owner, you’re dreaming of this.
“I was worried about the horses from Japan and Ireland but now, after this race, he has shown me that he’s a champion.”
It was the standout success of a day that saw Ryan Moore become just the second jockey, after Zac Purton, to complete the Hong Kong International Races (HKIR) grand slam with his win in the Hong Kong Sprint (Gr 1, 1200m) on Danon Smash (5 h Lord Kanaloa – Spinning Wildcat by Hard Spun). He also rode the Aidan O’Brien-trained Mogul (3 c Galileo – Shastye by Danehill) to win the Hong Kong Vase (Gr 1, 2400m), a third win in the event for both rider and trainer.
For good measure, Purton was able to cement his record as the top HKIR rider of all-time with his second Hong Kong Cup (Gr 1, 2000m) win aboard Japanese mare Normcore (5 m Harbinger – Chronologist by Kurofune).
“It’s something I’m very proud of, it’s a great achievement,” the four-time Hong Kong champion rider said. “To also now be the only jockey to win the full set of international races twice is also for myself somewhat rewarding.
“Hopefully, I can just continue to have luck at this meeting going forward. It’s been a great week, I’m very thankful that I get these opportunities.”
While the Hong Kong Sprint is the race in which Australian-breds tend to dominate, winning the race from its inception in 1999 until 2009 and again the last three years before Danon Smash broke the streak yesterday, the Hong Kong Mile – and its predecessor, the 1400-metre Hong Kong Bowl – has also been a race in which horses born down under have a terrific record.
Yesterday, Golden Sixty joined horses like Monopolize (Rubiton), The Duke (Danehill), Glorious Days (Hussonet) and Able Friend (Shamardal) as an Australian-bred Hong Kong Mile winner. Aushorse chief executive Tom Reilly lauded the $120,000 purchase from the 2017 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, who was then on-sold to Lui for NZ$300,000 at that year’s NZB Ready To Run Sale.
“Today’s race day is a huge day in Australia,” Reilly told ANZ Bloodstock News. “Usually there are a lot of Australians that go up. A lot of people will be celebrating Golden Sixty’s win today.
“He has done an incredible job over a variety of distances. If you are a racing fan anywhere in the world, horses that have that turn of foot, it sets them apart. But also, with horses that can go on a winning run, we’ve had it before with champions like Able Friend, I think they are horses that people get behind.
“He is clearly the best horse in Hong Kong at the moment. He was super impressive again today. We are incredibly lucky that there is a really strong connection between Australia and Hong Kong.”
While Australian hopes were dashed in the Hong Kong Sprint as The Everest (1200m) winner Classique Legend (Not A Single Doubt) and local favourite Hot King Prawn (Denman) disappointed, nine-year-old Jolly Banner (Lonhro) still managed to rally for second in a career-best effort while Wishful Thinker (I Am Invincible) finished within three-quarters of a length of Danon Smash in fourth.
It was also a successful day at Sha Tin for the Australian-breds away from the features: Master Montaro (Toronado) maintained his unbeaten record at his first outing in Hong Kong; Authentic Champ (Star Witness) swept home from near last to record back-to-back successes and Australian Derby (Gr 1, 2400m) placegetter Tourbillon Diamond (Olympic Glory), who raced in Australia as Eric The Eel, demonstrated that he would be a Four-Year-Old Classic Series threat by taking the last.
It is a factor that is touched upon in the Aushorse Investors’ Guide, which highlights not only the strength of Australia’s racing industry but also the fact that opportunities are there for owners – both at home and abroad – to get their hands on quality stock at a more palatable price point.
“Whether you look at prize-money, the availability of the best stock being offered for auction, or the potential resale value if you get a good colt or filly, there is no better place to invest in a racehorse,’’ Reilly said. “In a year that has been so disrupted by Covid-19, the strength of our thoroughbred industry has never been more apparent. While some countries slashed prize-money, returns to owners actually grew in Australia.’’
While the guide focuses heavily on prize-money opportunities in Australia – highlighting the fact there are 52 races worth more than $1 million in the country compared to 29 in the United States and seven across all of Europe, while there is higher average prize-money per race than the UK, Europe or the US – there is also a significant component dedicated to the success of the Australian thoroughbred on the international stage.
For Hong Kong buyers, there is already a natural connection. As of yesterday, 671 – or exactly 50 per cent – of the 1342 horses on the books in Hong Kong were bred in Australia. Of those, 228 were imported having raced abroad with 443 arriving unraced.
“Hong Kong owners sometimes buy horses as yearlings, leaving them in Australia, then they will bring them back like Classique Legend and Bon Ho,” Reilly said. “There are people buying horses to bring up to Hong Kong as griffins, or as tried horses too, so our relationship with Hong Kong is incredibly strong. It is incredibly beneficial to our industry. We have a great relationship with Hong Kong owners.
“With Golden Sixty, it’s great for Hong Kong that they have got a horse that is such a superstar. I remember when horses like Sacred Kingdom and Silent Witness were running in Hong Kong, being lucky enough to go and see them at the races, and the huge following they had. Obviously, the crowds weren’t there today at Sha Tin, but he is going to have that same sort of following I think.
“We have had it here with Winx and Black Caviar, horses that can go on those long winning streaks, they build up a following. It’s not just punters, everybody who follows racing gets behind those horses.”
To view the Aushorse investors’ guide, click here. https://www.aushorse.com.au/2021-investors-guide/
Notably, Golden Sixty, Authentic Champ and Tourbillon Diamond were all ridden by Ho, part of a quartet of winners that also included another unbeaten star in Winning Dreamer, by Newgate Farm’s super sire Deep Field (Northern Meteor).
“It can’t get much better than this,” Ho said. “My goal was to become a world-class rider, which I’m still striving to achieve. I’d love to win more international Group 1 races. But I’m so happy that it all came together today. It means so much to me.”
Moore magic on Mogul, Purton picks up Normcore
The first of the HKIR features, the Hong Kong Vase, went to Mogul, the Grand Prix de Paris (Gr 1, 2400m) winner who dominated the admittedly thin local staying ranks with a three-length win.
He did leave a past Vase winner behind, though, racing clear of Exultant (Teofilo) with Columbus County (Redwood) making good ground into third.
A sibling to Group 1 winner Japan (Galileo), Group 1 placegetter Secret Gesture (Galileo) and Australian stakes performers Sir Isaac Newton (Galileo) and Maurus (Medicean), Mogul was the world’s most expensive yearling in 2018, fetching 3.4 million guineas (approx. AUD$6.27 million).
The three-year-old has proven something of an enigma this season, but his two Group 1 wins suggest that he is capable of developing into a terrific mile-and-a-half horse at four. He will get his chance next year, too, with O’Brien confirming that Mogul would remain in training in 2021.
“We’re delighted with him,” he said. “He’s a big, powerful, strong horse and he’s made like a miler, and it’s only when we’ve been riding him patiently and more for speed than stamina that we’ve seen the best of him. Ryan gave him a lovely ride and he settled good and quickened very well.
“Pierre-Charles Boudot rode him like that at Longchamp but we just weren’t sure how strong the pace would have to be in front of him for him to produce that turn of foot. It wasn’t a mad pace and he still did (show it), so we were very happy with that.
“We’re really looking forward to him next year. Getting a clean run is a big help to him. Anything from a mile and a quarter to a mile and a half on a nice bit of ground and taking our time with him is probably the key to him.
“He’d be an exciting horse for next year and we think another year is going to do him no harm.”
Moore suggested that another overseas campaign in 2021, in search of fast ground, may be on his radar.
“In reality, I was in front sooner than would have been ideal today but he took me there nicely,” he said. “When he gets in front, he maybe lacks a bit of concentration still but he’s a beautiful-looking horse, he’s got a fantastic mind and it doesn’t stress him. He’ll be a really nice four-year-old.
“Travelling doesn’t stress him. He loves decent ground. These fast, flat tracks suit him. They let him show what class he has.”
Incredibly, Moore’s win on Mogul was just his 12th for O’Brien this season, a reflection of the difficulties of international travel during the Covid-19 period.
“The year for everyone has been a mess but we’re very thankful to everyone at the Hong Kong Jockey Club for getting me over,” he said. “It’s been a big effort and I can’t really stress enough the time they’ve put in.
“I’ve always loved coming to Hong Kong. I came here when I was 18 and they were doing the breeze up sale and I’ve always loved coming here.
“It’s fantastic racing and competitive racing. It’s been a shame I wasn’t able to get over here earlier this year but hopefully we can come again.”
While Moore later became the second member of the grand-slam club by taking his first Sprint on Danon Smash, the first jockey to win all four races, Zac Purton, was quick to remind the world of his talents with a top ride on Japanese mare Normcore to win the Hong Kong Cup.
A late pick-up ride after Christophe Soumillon was ruled out due to quarantine difficulties, Normcore handed her compatriot Win Bright (Stay Gold) his first defeat at the Sha Tin 2000 metres, with Moore and O’Brien third with top mare Magical (Galileo).
“She (Normcore) had to fight for it, Win Bright gave a really sharp kick and his love for Sha Tin was starting to show through,” Purton said. “But she was determined and inch-by-inch, she just kept putting herself in the frame.”
While it has naturally been assumed that Magical would retire to stud after yesterday’s race, O’Brien kept the door slightly ajar for the seven-time Group 1 winner to remain in training at six.
“As we always do, the lads will chat between themselves about what they want to do and then talk to us and decide what we’re going to do,” he said.
“She looks great after the race and seems to have come up sound, we’ll take her home and make a plan. But she’d be some mare to have for next season, she’s an incredible horse.”