Without having to raise a fetlock in anger, Hong Kong superstar Golden Sixty has returned to the world #1 spot for the third time in his glittering career – albeit for technical reasons.
Equinox’s reign at the top on Thoroughbred Racing Commentary’s Global Rankings has come to an end after 53 weeks – the second-longest stint in rankings history – as his name is removed from the charts owing to the automatic cutoff period of 118 days since his most recent outing.
Indeed, Golden Sixty himself will be removed from the list if for any reason he misses the FWD Champions Mile, where the brilliant eight-year-old is scheduled to make the final appearance of his brilliant career at Sha Tin on April 28.
The leading prize-money earner of all time worldwide, Golden Sixty is one of 23 individual horses to reach the #1 spot (see table below) since we started compiling racehorse rankings in 2014. His two previous spells at the head of the classifications came from April 14 - May 8, 2022, and March 5 - March 19, 2023. He has spent seven weeks at the top altogether.
TRC Global Rankings: #1s ranked by weeks at the top
While Golden Sixty did not need to do anything to claim the #1 position, his form was at least boosted at the Dubai World Cup meeting where old rival California Spangle (#10 from #27, +131pt) won the G1 Al Quoz Sprint. Although California Spangle beat Golden Sixty in the 2022 Hong Kong Mile, he has finished behind the world #1 on five other occasions.
Equinox spent 12 months in the #1 spot, which he claimed at last year’s Dubai World Cup meeting with his unforgettable performance in the Sheema Classic. A total of 53 weeks at the top is bettered only by Australia’s wonder woman Winx, the mighty mare who spent 176 weeks at #1 between March 2016 and August 2019.
Golden Sixty, meanwhile, came through a routine barrier trial at Sha Tin on Tuesday [April 2] ahead of his return to the track.
His jockey Vincent Ho, also planning a return after being sidelined since a fall in January, was in the plate for the workout. “He felt good – he’s a little bit heavy still but we still have some time,” said Ho, speaking to the Hong Kong Jockey Club media team.
“I’m happy with how he is after a long break,” added the rider. “He will definitely improve from that. He’s always a bit laidback, especially across recent years and in his trials he shows laziness, even in turf gallops – that’s him.”
Golden Sixty, the only ten-time G1 winner in HK history, has won 26 races altogether. He has been absent with a leg injury since winning the HK Mile in December on his sole outing of the season.
“We’ll have some gallops next week and then one more trial, turf gallops and then ready for the race,” said Ho, who expects to return to race-riding at Happy Valley on April 10. “He never feels like an eight-year-old. He feels even better, like he’s improving every year with age as he gets older.”
• Unlike traditional methods of racehorse rankings, TRC Global Rankings are a measure of an individual’s level of achievement over a rolling three-year period, providing a principled hierarchy of the leading horses, jockeys, trainers, owners and sires using statistical learning techniques. Racehorse rankings can be compared to similar exercises in other sports, like the golf’s world rankings or the ATP rankings in tennis.
They are formulated from the last three years of races we consider Group or Graded class all over the world and update automatically each week according to the quality of a horse’s performances and their recency, taking into account how races work out.
• View the latest TRC Global Rankings for horses / jockeys / trainers / sires
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