Eagle Regiment gave trainer Manfred Man his first G1 victory and in doing so took some major scalps as he made the leap to the big time in this afternoon’s HKG1 Kent & Curwen Centenary Sprint Cup at Sha Tin, the 1st Leg of the Hong Kong Speed Series.

The improving four-year-old, by El Moxie - the same sire as Hong Kong sprinting legend Silent Witness - had already proven himself a talented 1000m turf specialist at Sha Tin with 5 course and distance wins to his name, and although the gelding had shown himself to be a sprinter of fine potential in Class 2 races, according to official ratings, Eagle Regiment came to this contest rated 21 pounds below the top-ranked champion sprinter Sacred Kingdom, who was aiming for a third consecutive success in the race.

In a thrilling, rain-drenched scramble to the line, the Olivier Doleuze-ridden Eagle Regiment showed that he is a horse on a steep upward curve as he duly made it six 1000m wins at the track, holding last month’s G1 Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Sprint runner-up Joy And Fun by a neck with Let Me Fight a whisker further back in third.

“To win a first Group 1 race is exciting and I’m very happy,” said Man. “He is a 1000m specialist, so I told the owner we would come here and try our best to see what happens but his rating was 106, coming out of handicaps, and that’s a long way below 127 (Sacred Kingdom) – we couldn’t be confident.

“I think the rain helped him, he handles soft ground and he’s very consistent at the distance. Where we go next depends on the programme. I have no choice but to go 1200m with him – there is a question mark over the distance after his one try but he lost a shoe that time so I need to enter him to see how he goes.”

Doleuze was delighted after guiding Eagle Regiment to victory in a time of 57.05 seconds.

“He’s a very nice horse and he has been really consistent over his career,” commented the Frenchman. “Over 1000m he is a different horse, he is very good but now they will have to stretch him out. I think that will be no problem but only the future will tell us. Last time when he ran over 1200m he had to carry quite a bit of weight.

“I wasn’t surprised by the way he ran today. He is a specialist and when I saw the rain come I was happy because it helped him more than some of the other horses. And he was too good for them!”

Rich Unicorn took fourth spot, while Sacred Kingdom ran a gallant race in clinching fifth, half a length behind the winner, and G1 CXHK Sprint hero Lucky Nine finished sixth.

The remaining legs of the HK Speed Series are the Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1200m) on 5 February and the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (1400m) on 4 March.