Stablemates Golden Sixty and More Than This will clash again in Sunday’s (23 February) HK$10 million Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) in what amounts to a battle for pole position on the road to the BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m).
Golden Sixty accelerated impressively to win the Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m) last month with More Than This a strong-closing second. The weekend’s rematch has shades of the 2014 Classic Cup when Designs On Rome turned the tables on his stablemate Able Friend, which set up an epic head-to-head in that year’s Derby.
The exciting Golden Sixty – beaten only once in nine starts – has since had to overcome a sickness and that setback plus the extra distance of the Four-Year-Old Classic Series’ second leg adds to the intrigue of a fascinating encounter.
Francis Lui remained measured in his appraisal of both his stable stars at Sha Tin this morning (Friday, 21 February).
“Golden Sixty had a temperature two weeks ago so it’s hard to say if he can beat More Than This and the others this time but he galloped this morning with another horse and he seems to be coming back,” the trainer said.
“I’m a little bit worried but he’s been scoped, we’ve kept an eye on his blood count and that’s all fine, he looks like he has recovered quickly.
“He’s going from 1600 to 1800 metres so there are more questions in my mind about Golden Sixty than More Than This for this race, but it’s hard to say what the result will be.”