Not even Silent Witness or Sacred Kingdom notched three wins in the HKG1 Kent & Curwen Centenary Sprint Cup but Eagle Regiment will attempt to do just that in Hong Kong’s premier straight track dash at Sha Tin on Sunday.
Eagle Regiment, along with that standout duo, is one of five sprinters within the past 21 years to have claimed the 1000m prize on two occasions, the others being Best Of The Best and Scintillation.
Eagle Regiment is well worth his place amongst that quintet; but his form - or lack of it - in recent times means that victory for Manfred Man’s charge on Sunday would astonish and gladden in almost equal measure.
The 2012 and 2013 victor, a seven-time winner from only 17 starts, has been beset with physical niggles throughout his career and has not raced since finishing last of 10 behind Amber Sky in this very contest 12 months ago.
That was a far cry from his pinnacle. After winning this race first up in 2013, Eagle Regiment marched on Dubai and, despite a setback mere days before the G1 Al Quoz Sprint (1000m), the game El Moxie gelding raced to a fine 3rd.
Nothing much has gone his way since then. His best effort in four starts last term came when third in the G2 Jockey Club Sprint (1200m).
After failing miserably to land a hat-trick in the Kent & Curwen, Eagle Regiment picked up a tendon injury and was side-lined. A bout of colic in June required surgery and the speedster did not resume track-work until early August. As in 2013, the now seven-year-old will go into Sunday’s test first-up for the season, with three barrier trials under his belt, the latest being a fair effort behind Dundonnell and Divine Calling on 6 January.
Man was pleased with Eagle Regiment’s latest gallop on Monday (19 January) morning and is taking a pragmatic view about the task at hand.
“He worked from the 1800m start on the turf and I’m happy with his preparation at this stage. He worked well on Monday and I think he can run a very good race this coming Sunday but it will be tough,” said the trainer.
Eagle Regiment clocked 49.6s for that 800m gallop under Olivier Doleuze, with the final 400m covered in a smart 22.1s.
“He had colic in the summer and needed an operation, and he has the leg problems, too, so I don’t push him; we just take things step by step, just barrier trials and trackwork,” added the trainer. “He’s getting older so we can just keep our fingers crossed.”
Eagle Regiment faces last year’s winner, Amber Sky, who went on to win the 2014 G1 Al Quoz Sprint in Dubai, but who missed two weeks of track work after a set-back over Christmas. The field also features Peniaphobia, runner-up in the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (1200m) last month.
G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen (1200m - Tapeta) winner Sterling City, HKG3 National Day Cup (1000m) victor Bundle Of Joy, Frederick Engels, Smart Volatility and You Read My Mind are set to line up, while Champion Sprinter Lucky Nine is also among the nine entries.
