Golden Sixty won’t race until HKIR

The beginning of the 2023-24 Hong Kong racing season is still a couple of weeks away, but social media was abuzz on Tuesday afternoon after a Tweet emerged, stating that superstar Golden Sixty wouldn’t race until the Hong Kong Mile on HKIR day in December.

For the past two seasons, Golden Sixty, now an eight-year-old, has kicked off his campaign in the Group 2 Jockey Club Mile towards the end of November. However, that won’t be the case this year, as trainer Francis Lui reportedly said at the stable’s worship ceremony on Wednesday that Golden Sixty will race first-up in the Group 1 Hong Kong Mile in December.

🚨🚨BREAKING🚨🚨
GOLDEN SIXTY will head straight Hong Kong Mile#HKRacing pic.twitter.com/Ek8cH2b6lp

— 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐨 (@ChareneWoo) August 23, 2023

At face value, it would seem Lui will be taking it one race at a time with Golden Sixty as the champion galloper enters his sixth and likely final season of racing.

In July of this year, Lui confirmed he has no intention of traveling with Golden Sixty, admitting that 2021 would have been the year to attempt an overseas raid if not for the plethora of Covid-19 restrictions Hong Kong was under at the time. These restrictions made it extremely difficult for connections to join in on the journey.