SUPERSTAR GALLOPER GOLDEN SIXTY’S FUTURE REMAINS UP IN THE AIR AFTER CHAMPIONS MILE DEFEAT

Record-breaking galloper's owner yet to confirm whether he will be retired after Champions Day defeat

A final call on Golden Sixty's future is yet to be made, with Francis Lui Kin-wai confirming the champion galloper would be "wound down" while remaining in his stable.

Although most signs point to last Sunday's Group One Champions Mile being the final race of an extraordinary career, Lui said owner Stanley Chan Ka-leung had yet to confirm Golden Sixty's impending retirement.

In the aftermath of the Champions Mile, in which Golden Sixty ran fourth as the $1.5 favourite on an unsuitable yielding track at Sha Tin, Lui said he would "probably" be stepped down.

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Chan suggested after his incredible Group One Longines Hong Kong Mile triumph last December that Golden Sixty would likely be retired at Northern Farm in Japan at the end of this season.

"I think I have to discuss with the owner," Lui said on Tuesday. "We haven't decided now whether he's retired. But it's not very easy, you can't just say stop him and send him on the plane and send him overseas to retire.

"I think you have to keep working him, make him happy, progressively drop him [down in work] and decide to retire, something like that."

Lui said Golden Sixty thrived in his stable rather than being sent to a paddock for a break.

"We'll keep him in the stable for a while," the veteran handler said. "Actually, even if we decided not to run him, we can keep him in the stable and just make him happy."

Despite Sunday's deflating defeat in his return from a minor leg injury sustained in January, Golden Sixty returned to warm applause from his legion of fans at Sha Tin.

The eight-year-old has struggled on rain-affected tracks in the past, including a third to Russian Emperor in the Group One Gold Cup (2,000m) in 2022 on yielding ground.

"The weather didn't help him, as well as the ground," Lui said. "He was OK after the race. Of course he got beaten, so he's not happy.

"You can see the two big races he got beat, he got beat by Douglas Whyte's horse [Russian Emperor] on soft ground and the [2022 Stewards' Cup], the official rating was good going but it was a wet track. He got beat by John Size's horse, Waikuku."

Golden Sixty has broken records and taken Lui, Chan and jockey Vincent Ho Chak-yiu on the ride of a lifetime in his 26 wins from 31 starts.

The world's highest-rated galloper accumulated a record HK$167 million in prize money, joined Rapper Dragon as the only gallopers to win all three legs of the Classic Series in 2020 and won a record-tying three Hong Kong Miles.

"He's a horse that's once in a lifetime," Lui said.