It took the combined efforts of a great trainer and a great jockey to finally put an end to the unbeaten run of Hong Kong’s Champion race-horse Golden Sixty in the Group 1 Steward’s Cup.
The Francis Lui trained son of Medaglia D’oro was bidding for a record equalling seventeen wins in a row, which would have emulated the feat of the mighty Silent Witness, but, after nearly nine hundred days without tasting defeat, Waikuku upstaged the champion under a superb ride by Zac Purton for trainer John Size.
It was Waikuku’s second victory in the Steward’s Cup and it gave Size his seventh success in the race while Purton took out the Steward’s Cup for the third time.
“I was really happy with the way the race was run, I was in a lovely rhythm and I knew he was going to give me a kick but with Golden Sixty in the race, you’re never home until you pass the post.”
“He’s run many horses down the last few years, he’s a champion and obviously the race wasn’t run to suit him today,” said Purton.
Size, for his part, was very happy about the way the race had panned out.
“It was easy to watch because he was more or less at the leader’s quarters, like trackwork. It looked good in the run. I was very comfortable with the way it was unfolding,” said Size.
“The horse has trained up very well since the beginning of the season. He’s done everything correctly. He hasn’t had a moments’ problem and he’s kept on improving as every month has passed. “So, to get a nice run like that today, he was able to capitalise on it and kick on and win the race.”
Golden Sixty will now move on to tackle either the Group 1 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup or the Group 1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup (2000m).
