Golden Sixty sparkled in the sunshine at Sha Tin on Sunday and staked a persuasive claim for next month's BMW Hong Kong Derby with a thrilling defeat of Champion's Way and stablemate More Than This in the Hong Kong Classic Cup.
Winning rider Vincent Ho hailed the four-year-old as "a special horse" after the Medaglia d'Oro gelding swooped late to score, while trainer Francis Lui said that he was "so pleased and also relieved" to see his stable star take his record to nine wins from just ten starts in HK.
Golden Sixty's first attempt over 1800m had been put in doubt due to an elevated temperature two weeks ago but trainer Lui was content to let him take his chance and punters kept the faith by sending last month's Classic Mile winner off as the 2.2 favourite with More Than This and Zac Purton second choice at 2.8.
Purton's fears that More Than This might get well back from a wide draw proved justified, but the former Richard Fahey gelding made strong headway on the outside stalk the leaders halfway up the home straight.
Ryan Moore, who had ridden More Than This to second in the Classic Mile, raised the stakes as Champion's Way hit the front with 250m to go but Ho remained poised on Golden Sixty and HK's emerging star produced his trademark turn of foot to sprint between horses and win by half a length with More Than This a length back in third.
The winner hit the line in 1m 45.88s - around 0.6s outside of Southern Legend's 1800m track record - and a final 400m of 22.38s was his latest in an ever-lengthening line of powerful closing splits.
"My plan was always to get him relaxed behind the right horses and he is definitely settling better as he moves up in distance," added Ho. "I do think that he has a good chance of staying the extra 200m in the Derby now. It's a big thrill to be involved with a horse like this and I just want to keep working and keep improving to make the most of it."
Sunday's £1m feature has a rich recent heritage, with Rapper Dragon, Ambitious Dragon and Designs On Rome wining it as a springboard to Derby glory and multiple G1 winners like Beauty Generation, Able Friend and Exultant among those who ran well in defeat.
Fay Fay, Werther and Furore have all shown that being beaten in the Classic Cup is no barrier to Derby success in recent years and Purton told Lui that New equipment could be key to More Than This's chances of reversing the form with the winner on Derby day.
"Zac said that it might be better to fit some headgear on More Than This and that's something we will think about now," he added. "Both horses will trial again before the Derby. Of course, I have to dream about winning the race now but Golden Sixty has to be the one at the moment."
Seven of the last ten Derby heroes contested the Classic Cup or its equivalent and the chances of that sequence becoming eight from the last eleven increased when the Caspar Fownes-trained Derby hope Columbus County and Purton were pipped on the post by fellow Classic hope Amazing Beats in a blanket finish to the following Class 2 handicap.
Fresh from taking his HK earnings to £2m, Golden Sixty was still bucking and kicking with energy to spare as his groom walked him away from the winner's enclosure and off to the dope box.
Two legs of HK's Four-Year-Old Classic Series are now in the books. And the issue of whether Golden Sixty will thrive over the extra 200m of the Derby on Sunday, March 22 is now perhaps the sole question to be answered as he bids for a famous homegrown Hong Kong Derby success.