GOLD TIX FOR KING OF SIXTY-ONE

Singapore Gold Cup beckons after fighting Class 3 win over 1600m, but QEII Cup first

- Michael Lee

Honest stayer King Of Sixty-One did his Singapore Gold Cup hopes no harm after a convincing win in the $70,000 Class 3 race (1,600m) on Aug 18.

The Irish-bred five-year-old grey is among six horses trainer Tim Fitzsimmons has entered for the $1.38 million Group 1 Grand Singapore Gold Cup (2,000m) on Oct 5.

While Lightning Strike and Saint Tropez are at this stage among the standby starters, AJ's Stable's King Of Sixty-One should gain a ticket, given his 11th place in the order of entry, along with Golden Monkey (second), Dream Alliance (fourth) and fellow AJ's stablemate Raising Sixty-One (10th).

The Gold Cup, which can take up to 16 runners, is seven weeks away, but from the way King Of SixtyOne carved his win, Fitzsimmons had no reason to believe he would be out of his depth in, arguably, the most-anticipated race in the 182year-old history of Singapore racing, sadly, more for bleak reasons.

The time-honoured race will not only be the last of its kind, but will also be staged at the last-ever race meeting held in the Republic.

On 78 points, which are bound to spike up to around 84 points after that latest victory, King Of SixtyOne will still be a whopping 37 points off the top-weight Lim's Kosciuszko (121 points).