Riversley Park’s Sam Beatson and Cambridge trainer/trader Ben Foote have enjoyed a successful purchasing partnership for a number of years and purchased six youngsters at the 2017 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
Among them was the son of Medaglia D’Oro, who as Golden Sixty is now the pin-up boy of Hong Kong racing with his 10th career win from 11 appearances posted in outstanding style in the Hong Kong Derby at Sha Tin on Sunday evening.
Golden Sixty was bought by Beatson and Foote out of Element Hill’s Gold Coast draft for $120,000. He was subsequently sold for NZ$300,000 at New Zealand Bloodstock’s Ready to Run Sale to Hong Kong trainer Francis Lui on behalf of owner Stanley Chan.
Watch: Golden Sixty breeze-up (inside rail)
“We buy a lot in partnership together to pin-hook to ready to run sales and trial and we race a few. We went to that Gold Coast Sale and bought half a-dozen that year,” Beatson said.
“He’s the best horse we’ve sold, it would take a fair bit to beat him, the world is his oyster.
“He’s the best horse we’ve sold, it would take a fair bit to beat him, the world is his oyster.” – Sam Beatson
“Ben and I are pretty similar in the type of horse we buy. We do vary a little bit, which is quite good because we can bounce off each other and one of us can see something in a horse that the other doesn’t,” Beatson said.
“Basically, he was a real athlete and he wasn’t going to be a 2-year-old for that early Magic Millions Sale and we thought if we got him home, and with the pedigree that he’s got that we’d do well.
“He’s by Medaglia D’Oro, who is a superstar sire, and we paid $120,000 for him and we thought we’d bought well at the time, but you never know until things progress.
“We were happy with what we bought him for and when we sold him we turned a good profit as well.”
Gallery: Golden Sixty when selling as a yearling through Element Hill's draft at the 2017 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale | Images courtesy Magic Millions
Element Hill’s Josh Hutchins agreed with Beatson’s early summation of Golden Sixty, who was always going to need a degree of patience.
“To be honest, he was probably a bit light but he was athletic. He was a nice enough yearling and needed a bit of time to mature and develop,” he said. “The guys at Riversley identified him as a lovely pin-hook and they were correct.
“They saw something in him that obviously ticked all their boxes, but he always presented as that horse that would need a little bit of time.
“They saw something in him that obviously ticked all their boxes, but he always presented as that horse that would need a little bit of time.” – Josh Hutchins
“I would have thought he might have made a little bit more, but he probably just wasn’t quite ready and you could tell he was going to develop a lot which he’s obviously done.”
Golden Sixty’s dam Gaudeamus (USA) (Distorted Humor {USA}) resides on Element Hill’s Queensland farm and unfortunately isn’t in foal.
“She’s got a lovely Capitalist filly at foot that’s just been weaned. She is probably one of the best foals out of the mare and we’re a bit undecided whether we keep her or sell, but she’ll probably be kept as she’s the first filly we’ve had,” Hutchins said.
“She didn’t get in foal to Trapeze Artist, but we’ve still got the mare and we’ll still get a few more foals out of her. I would think that the next one presented at a sale will be well sought after, especially by the Hong Kong buyers.”
Gaudeamus, who won the G2 Leopardstown Debutante S. and the Listed Woodpark & Ballysheehan Studs S., is from the family of the multiple Group 1 winner and sire Hector Protector (USA), whose sister Bosra Sham (USA), was a winner of three elite level races.
Golden Sixty is one of a host of top-class gallopers to have gone through Beatson’s system.
“Dundeel is the best horse I’ve broken in. I did Prince Of Penzance, the G1 Melbourne Cup winner, but he was no Dundeel,” he said. “I’ve broken in a lot of Group 1 winners and I’ve been meaning to count them all up, but it would be close to 40.”
Work in progress
When Beatson began the early education of Golden Sixty, it soon became apparent he was a horse that would require patience.
“Without being naughty, he was a really busy horse. The more work we did with him the better he was, but he did take a lot early and he didn’t like working beside another horse,” he said. “They’ve done a great job training him because he seems to relax.
“Horses like him we spend a fair bit of time with just trotting them around. He wasn’t straight forward, but he wasn’t a rogue, he just had a few little quirks.
Sam Beatson of Riversley Park
“We knew he could gallop and because he was quite busy we never pushed him at all and let him do it on his own.
“He went into the breeze-up with one decent gallop and a couple of three-quarters and he showed us he was pretty quick.
“You never know, they’re only going 200 metres, but whatever he did, he did well and was fast. You’re always hoping they’ve got that engine and a turn of foot at the end of races.”
“You’re always hoping they’ve got that engine and a turn of foot at the end of races.” – Sam Beatson
Beatson said Golden Sixty’s Ready to Run Sale price tag was in line with their pre-auction expectations.
“He was about spot on where we though he would be in the market. After his breeze-up he x-rayed well and he had a pedigree to go with it.
“He’s by Medaglia D’Oro out of mare who won a Group 2 as a 2-year-old. We were happy with what we got and we were expecting it.”
Golden Sixty winning the Hong Kong Derby | Image courtesy of Hong Kong Jockey Club
Following his sale, Golden Sixty joined Grahame Richardson’s Matamata stable and had three trials, winning the last of them over 1030 metres at Te Teko in August, 2018, before relocating to Lui’s Hong Kong stable.
“I remember Cameron Lammas getting off him at the trials that day and he said to me, he’s a real Derby horse,” Richardson said.
“My job is to educate them and make sure they are doing things right when they get over there. They are not over-tried or pushed and have been taught properly to race.”
