Golden Sixty will not run in next month’s Group One Stewards’ Cup (1,600m) after connections discovered an issue with their superstar on Wednesday morning.

After galloping over 800m on Sha Tin’s all-weather track on Christmas Day, Golden Sixty trotted and swam for the next two mornings before the discovery was made.

“[On Wednesday morning], we found a little bit of filling and a little bit of heat [in his front left leg]. The vets did a check, a scan and an MRI – there’s nothing serious, but they sent a report to England,” trainer Francis Lui Kin-wai said in the Jockey Club release that followed Friday night’s Happy Valley meeting.

“It’s very slight, but of course, for the safety side, we don’t want to push him because the race is only three weeks’ time.

“The vets said we can give him light trotting for three or four weeks, and progressively we can check on him. The issue is just inside the pastern on his front left leg.”

Superb when kicking off his farewell season with victory in the Group One Hong Kong Mile on international day, Golden Sixty was poised to defend his Stewards’ Cup title on January 21 before a potential swansong in April’s Group One Champions Mile.

The setback ends a remarkable run of good health for Golden Sixty, whose vet report features nothing but a note confirming the 10-time Group One winner turned eight ahead of this season.

Golden Sixty has plenty of time to recover before Champions Day on April 28, but there is now the very real possibility that the world’s highest-earning racehorse has run his last race.

While Golden Sixty’s recovery is just beginning, jockey Hugh Bowman showed he is well on his way to returning to full fitness during the rare Friday fixture at the Valley.

Bowman struck with his fifth ride back from injury, saluting for the first time since November 11 aboard the Caspar Fownes-trained Valhalla in the Class Five Nam Long Shan Handicap (1,200m).

Sidelined for a dozen meetings after fracturing his scapula and three vertebrae in a nasty fall, Bowman went winless from three rides when returning on Boxing Day and was pleased to get the ball rolling again at the final fixture of 2023.

“It didn’t take long, but it’s nice to get the support, and it’s nice to be back,” Bowman said.

“I’ve still got a bit of work to do to get to where I want to be. I was out for a long time, so it’s good to be back, and good to be on the board.”

Fownes went on to complete a double thanks to the success of Lyrical Motion in the second section of the Class Four Pat Sin Leng Handicap (1,200m), while Jamie Richards (Ernest Feeling and Armour Eagle) was the other trainer to secure a brace.

Earlier, Mark Newnham and Luke Ferraris teamed up successfully for the second consecutive meeting, taking out the first section of the Class Four Middle Gap Handicap (1,650m) with $25 shot Super Baby.

Triumphant with Diamond Flare at Sha Tin on Tuesday, Super Baby’s victory means the pair has saluted six times from 21 attempts this season at a strike rate of 29 per cent.

“We’re going well together, and if he keeps riding like that, we’ll keep going well together,” Newnham said of Ferraris, who controlled the race from the front aboard Super Baby.

“He rated the horse really well. The key to riding horses in front is getting the pace right – to go quick enough to get left alone, but not too quickly that you’re out of bullets. He’s riding really well.”