Sixty-five thousand people witnessed, arguably, the finest individual performance in Hong Kong racing history last weekend, and so extraordinary was Golden Sixty’s Group One Mile win you can bet thousands more will claim to have been on course when Hongkongers talk about the wonder horse in the coming years.

Golden Sixty became the seventh galloper to win a Group One race in Hong Kong aged eight or more years old when, on Sunday, he beat fellow Derby champion Voyage Bubble by one and a half lengths in front of Sha Tin enclosures packed with racing fans who appreciated they were in the presence of equine greatness.

Without wishing to detract from the achievements of, in chronological order, Oriental Express (2001 Champions and Chater Cup), Collier Hill (2006 Hong Kong Vase), Viva Pataca (2010 QE II Cup), Able One (2011 Hong Kong Mile), Joy And Fun (2012 Chairman’s Sprint Prize) and Aerovelocity (2016 Hong Kong Sprint), Golden Sixty has all of their Group One race-winning deeds as veterans covered.

Yes, Able One was nine in December 2011 when he pipped Cityscape and Xtension, but the 66-1 third longest-priced runner enjoyed clear air while $2.50 favourite Xtension was held up for most of the home straight.

Yes, like Golden Sixty, whom Jockey Club handicappers lifted from 131 to a Hong Kong-leading 133 on Monday, Aerovelocity earned his peak rating as an eight-year-old, climbing from 126 to 128 in December 2016.

However, of these seven Hong Kong racing legends, only Golden Sixty secured their final Group One victory either from the outside gate or first up. For Golden Sixty to beat a world-class field from barrier 14 in his first race for 224 days was hard to believe. For him to do it in the manner he did was beyond belief.

Golden Sixty clocked the fastest 200m sectional from the 400m marker to the 200m pole of the entire Hong Kong International Races meeting. Fourteen gallopers broke 11 seconds for that split, but Golden Sixty’s 10.68s was the quickest, and he was the only one to pose for photos in the winner’s circle. Wow.

Luckless Luke heads home

Luke Currie leaves Hong Kong with fewer victories than Golden Sixty – 20 compared to 26 – but you only have to perform a rudimentary data analysis to know the Australian rider was the latest in a long line of expatriate jockeys not to stand a chance in the city.

Only one non-home-grown rider who was on the Jockey Club’s roster at some point this year didn’t steer a favourite during 2023. That man was Currie, whose shortest-priced conveyance was $3.90 second elect Reward Smile when the John Size-trained sprinter ran second to $2.25 winner Lucky Encounter on May 21.

Currie, who was successful aboard David Hayes-prepared Miracle Victory on his Hong Kong bow in January 2022, exits the city with 20 wins and 39 placings from 508 starts and total stakes of just over HK$30 million.

Some punters will argue Currie failed in Hong Kong. However, according to the starting prices of his 508 rides, his results were pretty much what the betting market forecast. Removing the Jockey Club’s rake from calculations, Currie’s expected wins were about 22.

Hopefully, Currie receives a fairer suck of the sav from connections in Australia – Aussie slang for a reasonable opportunity – than he did in Hong Kong, particularly on Wednesday at Happy Valley, where he didn’t have a farewell engagement, even though he’d ridden 19 of the meeting’s 104 runners previously.

Purton gets permission for January leave, bids for Invincible weekend meeting

Hong Kong flavour to Oliver’s farewell

Finally, former Hong Kong-based jockey Damien Oliver will have his final race ride on Saturday when the 51-year-old Australian hoop teams up with a galloper with links to the city in a Group Three event that local regulators have renamed in his honour.

Oliver will partner Munhamek in the A$1.5 million (HK$7.85 million) Damien Oliver Gold Rush (1,400m) at Ascot in his home city of Perth. Munhamek was a three-time Hong Kong victor when he raced as Hall Of Champ. Now trained by Nick Ryan out of his Flemington yard, Munhamek’s owners are Caspar Fownes’ wife, Alix, her broadcaster brother, Clint Hutchison, and another former Jockey Club employee, television producer Jason Tan.

Unfortunately for Munhamek’s connections, especially Oliver, who won the 1994 Hong Kong Cup on State Taj and consecutive Hong Kong Sprints aboard Falvelon in 2000 and 2001, the eight-year-old gelding will start from the Ascot car park adjacent to the Swan River, and he is no Golden Sixty.