Hong Kong: Master Eight drops from Group 1 to Class 1 in Sha Tin feature

Master Eight could not cope with a class rise to Group 1 competition while racing at level weights, but he could easily handle a class drop while getting a weight break in the co-featured seventh race Sunday at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong.

Master Eight is one of 10 entrants in a Class 1 handicap carded for 1,200 meters (about six furlongs) over the Sha Tin turf. Bred in Australia, 4-year-old Master Eight has done all his racing in Hong Kong, winning his two starts during the 2020-21 season and three in a row to begin his 2021-22 campaign. Master Eight won his stakes debut, the Group 3 Bauhinia Sprint Trophy on Jan. 1, while racing down Sha Tin’s straight 1,000-meter course and getting nine pounds from the runner-up, Sight Success, whom he faces again Sunday. That emboldened Master Eight’s connections to try the Group 1 Centenary Sprint Cup on Jan. 21, and Master Eight’s first loss was a definitive one, a seventh-place finish.

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The Centenary Sprint is weight for age, all participants carrying 126 pounds, and Master Eight didn’t get much of a trip. Stalking the pace, he was pushed three paths wide around the turn, racing with no cover, and at the 300-meter mark in upper stretch failed to quicken with the top finishers in a race dominated by closers. Master Eight, already beaten, did demonstrate some very late interest, passing one rival and nearly catching another before galloping out with decent energy.

Matthew Chadwick rode Master Eight in the Centenary Sprint but his previous jockey, Joao Moreira, returns for Sunday’s race, which is open to horses rated 95 and higher. Master Eight’s rating of 101 works out to a 114-pound impost, meaning he gets a whopping 19 pounds from top-rated Hot King Prawn. Master Eight’s two highest-rated wins came at the straight 1,000 meters but he’s notched three victories going 1,200 meters and has a good enough draw Sunday in post 4.

Hot King Prawn has ranked among Hong Kong’s top sprinters for several years. His most recent victory came nearly 14 months ago in the 2021 Centenary Sprint, and off a peak of 127, Hot King Prawn now is rated 120 by Hong Kong handicappers. Zac Purton rides for trainer John Size and in addition to giving so much weight, Hot King Prawn must deal with post 10.

The card starts at midnight Eastern (catch all the action at DRFBets.com) with another Class 1 handicap, this one at 1,600 meters, about one mile, and with a field of just six. The streaking Cheerful Days is the lowest-rated entrant at 101 but ought to have a win chance toting only 114 pounds, getting between two and 19 pounds from his opponents. Cheerful Days exits a win in a 1,650-meter Class 2 at Happy Valley, getting up after a furious rally that saw him race his final 400 meters in a fast 22.48 seconds. Two starts ago, Cheerful Days won a 1,400-meter Class 1 at Sha Tin, and he has won six of his last seven starts this season, his Hong Kong rating skyrocketing from 59 to 101.

Size starts two: Excellent Proposal has been disappointing so far this season after a strong 2020-21 campaign, while 6-year-old Champions Way, after winning six of his first seven Hong Kong starts, has proceeded to go one for his last 24.

Healthy Happy should set the pace. Savvy Nine’s recent form is as good or better than anyone’s but he offers little to no evidence that he can prosper at a distance as short as 1,600 meters.