When the historians write The Big Book Of Hong Kong Horse Racing, Golden Sixty might finally receive the respect and adulation that this champion galloper is due and which goes beyond the here today, gone tomorrow micro world of Twitter.
For some reason, despite all his wins and accolades, there’s always been the nagging feeling- and this could be a personal one- that these achievements have not been celebrated like those of former champion Hong Kong gallopers like Silent Witness, Viva Pataca, Fairy King Prawn, possibly Good Ba Ba whose on-course achievements played second fiddle to the strange decisions made by the galloper’s owner, and Beauty Generation.
A friend in horse racing who knows far more about the quirks of horse racing than I do puts the somewhat downplaying of Golden Sixty’s achievements to him being a “Covid horse”, meaning that everything he’s achieved has happened during Hong Kong being in lockdown mode, and with the rest of the world trying to adapt to life in the new abnormal. Maybe.
A champion horse in a city going through a chain reaction of social changes and fighting a pandemic is not a priority.
Others might say that the success of Golden Sixty hasn’t captured the imagination of the international racing media because of the low-key team around him- Trainer Francis Lui, Jockey Vincent Ho and Owner Stanley Chan.
Would things have been different if those associated with the galloper might have been, let’s say, Zac Purton, Joao Moreira, Tony Cruz or David Hayes? Possibly.
Vincent Ho is a very nice guy and might be “a laidback dude”, but he’s hardly a showman. He keeps his emotions in check. Nothing wrong with this.
Has being almost the Rodney Dangerfield of champion global racehorses been because his successes have not been effectively promoted? Who knows?
In these times when Covid-19 and the Variants are always lurking in the background and readying for another surge, there’s nothing much else taking centre stage.
At Shatin on Sunday, by galloping away with the Champion’s Mile for the second successive year, Golden Sixty surpassed the prize money earned by that other champion Hong Kong galloper Beauty Generation.
Though not an advocate of “celebrating” dollar signs, the prize money earned is part of this very special horse’s legacy and curriculum vitae.
Yet, on Sunday, after what was a facile win and a short spurt of excitement, it was on to things like who had ridden a double, and the wins of Wellington and the fascinating back story behind the brilliant Romantic Warrior.
As for that “golden moment”, this somehow blurred rather quickly and became lost into the background of the day.
Of course, for owner Stanley Chan Ka-leung and the rest of the winning team, they know everything Golden Sixty has given them and no doubt adopt a It Is What It Is attitude.
Right now, everything going according to plan, their next date with destiny looks like having their champ travel to Japan and compete in the prestigious Yasuda Kinen.
A good move? Like all the other decisions made about Golden Sixty, it’s their call.
Writing this has made me realise that in a city where emotional attachments with athletes or celebrities are hit or miss affairs, only Bruce Lee has captured the imagination of Hong Kong.
For Golden Sixty and the team around him to achieve everything they have by themselves says much without having to scream about it.
Maybe this is the real Golden Sixty story- redefining success in Hong Kong by simply being happy and enjoying the journey this team has taken. It couldn’t have been easy.
If this ride might have inspired and interested others, great. There’s been interactivity.
In today’s Hong Kong- and this is a Hong Kong success story- what’s been achieved goes beyond words.
It’s something good and positive and about the strength of teamwork.
We can all learn something from this- not only racing fans.
This is what the historians will probably write about. And not only for The Great Book Of Hong Kong Horse Racing- but about the psyche of the city itself.
#goldensixty #hongkong #HKracing #vincentcyho #francislui #stanleychan #inspiration #journey #teamwork