Golden Sixty electrified Sha Tin like never before on Sunday afternoon, producing a spine-tingling Group One Longines Hong Kong Mile performance that had to be seen to be believed.

The nervous energy was palpable as the city’s most successful galloper made his way to the gates, the 65,252-strong crowd anxious to see if their champ still had it.

His answer elicited a roar surely as loud as anything Sha Tin has ever heard, with Golden Sixty delivering an effort so enormous grown men were welling up as they came to grips with what they had just witnessed.

“He’s a monster. When I asked him for [an] effort, he lengthened like I can’t believe – he’s still got that turn of foot. It’s crazy,” said jockey Vincent Ho Chak-yiu.

“I can’t believe it. I was confident, even from gate 14, as long as I could get into the right position. Everything just went pretty ideal – I visualised this, and it happened.

“Halfway through, I followed Danon The Kid very easily. He wasn’t keen. He travelled very gently with me, and I knew we were going to smoke them.”

No horse had ever won a Hong Kong Mile off a break as long as Golden Sixty’s 224-day hiatus since his Group One Champions Mile win in April, while the eight-year-old also had to overcome the outside barrier in the HK$32 million feature.

Swiftly away, Ho was able to find a position in midfield with cover, and when asked to go at the 400m, Golden Sixty was simply stunning.

He put the race to bed in the blink of an eye, unleashing his trademark turn of foot to reel off a 10.68-second sectional from the 400m to the 200m – quicker than anything produced in the Group One Hong Kong Sprint (1,200m) two races earlier.

The final margin was one and a half lengths, with this year’s Hong Kong Derby (2,000m) hero Voyage Bubble turning in a huge performance to finish second and Japan’s Namur running third.

“A lot of people were saying the age of eight is a concern, but to be honest, I never doubted him,” Ho said.

“We’ve looked after him. We’re not running him with top weight in handicaps, and this year, he’s only going to race in three races. He’s so amazing when he runs fresh. He’s just an amazing horse.”

By adding the 2023 Hong Kong Mile to his wins in the race in 2020 and 2021, Golden Sixty joined Good Ba Ba as a three-time Hong Kong International Races victor.

With a Hong Kong record-extending 26th career win and 10th Group One success, the world’s highest-earning racehorse pushed his prize money past HK$165 million.

“He is my champion. I think he enjoyed the race – he knew what to do. Our team did a good job. They looked after the horse very well. I have to say thank you to my team,” said trainer Francis Lui Kin-wai.

Owner Stanley Chan Ka-leung has suggested Golden Sixty will have two more runs this season before retiring in Japan. However, Ho hopes connections will remain open-minded as the season progresses.

“Of course, the next race is [January’s] Stewards’ Cup and then the Champions Mile [in April]. They are talking about retiring the horse,” Ho said.

“Of course, it looks like the right thing to do – he has achieved so much – but if he is still performing like this and he loves his racing so much, is it the right thing to take away what he loves?

“We will, of course, have to think about that as well. He’s a horse who loves racing – he enjoys it, he enjoys the crowd, and as long as he is healthy and competitive, we are happy.”