The 2023-24 campaign might be drawing to a close but it is a season that will live long in the memories of Hong Kong racing fans.

Golden Sixty took our breath away, Romantic Warrior conquered the world, California Spangle sparkled in Dubai and Godolphin showed their might on the Sha Tin turf.

Not to mention the pulsating trainers’ championship between Pierre Ng Pang-chi and Francis Lui Kin-wai, which is set to go down to the very last moment on Sunday night.

“Under difficult circumstances it’s been an amazing season,” said Jockey Club chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges. “The international success of Hong Kong horses is definitely something that you’ll look back on in five years.

“To win what Romantic Warrior has won is out of this world and we saw so many outstanding performances, like Golden Sixty and the Derby.”

The Jockey Club was forced to tackle “the overall economic situation, the Covid recovery and significant challenges with the weather” throughout the season, but the performances on the track were seemingly unforgettable.

Over 65,000 punters flocked to Sha Tin for December’s International meeting in the fervent hope of witnessing Golden Sixty weave his marvellous magic once more, and they were not disappointed.

The great horse put a mammoth absence behind him in the Hong Kong Mile and passed the winning post to a lions-mouth roar from the assembled faithful.

A length and a half was the distance between Golden Sixty and runner-up Voyage Bubble, but Romantic Warrior did not require such flashy winning margins in his unparalleled campaign.

When Peter Lau Pak-fai’s son of Acclamation made history with his dramatic Group One Cox Plate (2,040m) victory at Moonee Valley in October, it seemed inconceivable that he would be tasting top-level success in Tokyo seven months later.

But that he did, and with three Group One victories on home soil sandwiched in between for good measure.

Before Romantic Warrior’s remarkable Yasuda Kinen (1,600m) victory on June 2, his partner in crime, James McDonald, summed up the galloper’s versatility to perfection.

“I’ve been lucky enough to experience all types of wins with Romantic Warrior,” McDonald said. “A flamboyant win in his first Hong Kong Cup, tough and gritty for his second Hong Kong Cup, tenacious for the Cox Plate and just down and out fighting like a bulldog in the QE II Cup. I was a little bit in disbelief of how good that performance was.”

Danny Shum Chap-shing also jetted off in search of international glory with Victor The Winner – his galloper produced a bold effort to finish third in March’s Group One Takamatsunomiya Kinen (1,200m) at Chukyo racecourse – while California Spangle reigned supreme in Dubai.

The Tony Cruz-trained six-year-old lit up the Meydan turf under Brenton Avdulla and set a new track record in the process in the Group One Al Quoz Sprint (1,200m).

“It was amazing,” Engelbrecht-Bresges said. “We’ve had nearly two years where people could not go out and could not buy horses and that naturally has an effect two years later.

“But we’ve shown extreme resilience, and the way the horses have performed on the track gives me a lot of optimism for next season.”

There was a first overseas winner of May’s Group One Champions & Chater Cup (2,400m), with the Charlie Appleby-trained Rebel’s Romance brushing aside the home challenge with ease. One would hope he has paved the way for more of Godolphin’s superstars to follow in the seasons to come.

Engelbrecht-Bresges also highlighted the role Conghua’s additional training facilities played in the success of local trainers.

“A lot of people didn’t understand Conghua is a game-changer,” Engelbrecht-Bresges said. “Not only that we will have the racing there, but how we can prepare horses there. Horses training in Conghua is very significant.”