FWD Champions Day: Sha Tin review and reaction

Sixty sunk as Eternal proves well worth waiting for

After the storms, there must be a calm.

The rain that has lashed Hong Kong all week finally abated at Sha Tin this afternoon but the damage had been done for Hong Kong superstar Golden Sixty, who gave his all only to be thwarted Beauty Eternal and Zac Purton in the FWD Champions Mile.

Francis Lui’s gelding came into the race seeking an eleventh G1 success and his devoted legions sent him off at 1.5 in an 11-runner field including three Japanese raiders and British challenger Brave Emperor.

However, the three-time Horse of the Year had found his rapier turn of foot neutralised in one previous attempt on yielding ground and history repeated itself as he faded into fourth having been ridden closer to the pace than usual by Vincent Ho.

Ho said: "He ran well. The ground was not in our favour. When I hit the straight I could already feel he could not pick up with his usual turn of foot. We can’t fight the weather. I was in a great position and everything was close to the speed, but still we couldn’t improve."

Purton is no stranger to plotting a way to beat Golden Sixty and, having floored the champ with canny tactical rides aboard Waikuku and California Spangle in previous G1s, he turned a new page in the Beauty Eternal playbook.

Sent straight to the front for the first time in his career, John Size’s gelding dictated sedate fractions (24.78 and 23.25s) before kicking for home early in the straight.

The winner’s stablemate Red Lion was always handy with Voyage Bubble and Golden Sixty but Beauty Eternal had been rated perfectly – as evidenced by the fact that his closing split of 22.6s was his fastest of the race – and was firmly in control close home to score by a length and a half.

Golden Sixty was cheered round the paddock and back into the winner’s enclosure by his fan club but this defeat – only the fifth of a 31-race career spanning more than five years – leaves connections with a tricky dilemma.

Reports suggested that the door was open for another HKIR bid in December but Golden Sixty will be nine then – and retirement to a farm in Japan looks firmly back in the conversation after this defeat.

Click here for more news and reaction from FWD Champions Day

Warrior digs deep for record third QEII Cup

Romantic Warrior has long been seen as the heir to Golden Sixty’s HK crown and Danny Shum’s gelding produced a typically rugged performance to become the first horse ever to win the QEII Cup three times.

Last year’s runner up Prognosis made a huge move from the rear approaching halfway after missing the break and stayed on doggedly as things got tough in the straight.

However, Romantic Warrior is one of the most rugged battlers in the world nowadays and James McDonald produces him with an irresistible surge to land his fourth G1 of the season by a neck.

A trip to Japan for the Yasuda Kinen now beckons and McDonald simply said: “I’m in awe of this horse.

“I had no favours at all in the race but he wouldn’t give up. I don’t know how he does it but it brings a tear to my eye how good he is.”

Gloomy scenes as Brits draw a blank again

The form book suggested they were playing for places at best if key players delivered and so it proved as Believing, Brave Emperor and Dubai Honour came up short in their respective Champions Day assignments.

George Boughey’s filly Believing was sent off as a rank outsider at 126/1 for the chairman’s Sprint Prize and ran accordingly, never a threat under Harry Bentley.

Brave Emperor started at 45/1 for the Champions Mile and followed Believing in beating only two home, while Dubai Honour was sent off at 12/1 for the QEII Cup and mustered only one pace to finish seventh.

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