MASTER EIGHT & REGENCY GEM

16 May 2021

The latest excitement machine from Price Bloodstock made his much-anticipated appearance at Sha Tin on Sunday and Master Eight didn’t let anybody down with a hollow victory.

This Hong Kong season has seen a number of rising stars from the Price Bloodstock operation, including the hugely-exciting Courier Wonder but Master Eight left no doubt he belongs in conversations too about exciting careers ahead.

The Frankie Lor-trained three-year-old had barrier trialled like a horse with a future and that became even more apparent under race conditions when jockey Joao Moreira had an armchair ride around in the Class 4.

Master Eight showed brilliant pace in the early stages to quickly cross to the lead and from there Moreira simply controlled the race and the winning margin of more than three lengths could have been considerably more.

“He’s very promising. We knew he was a straight forward kind of a horse and he actually surprised me with where he is at the moment – I thought he was a few steps behind this,” Moreira said. “But he did this in such an easy way, which makes me think that he’s a good horse. He’s going to end up with a very high rating. It’s difficult for me to predict but the handicap is a bit far off at the moment to stop him. He’s got it.”

Lor, who has had previous successes for Price Bloodstock, was matter of fact when asked if Master Eight is his most promising young horse.

“He’s the best one,” Lor said. “In his last trial, he was really good. He can go up to Class 3, no problem. He’s only three, so we need to see how much he can improve into his next start. At this moment, 1,200m is the best distance for him. Every season, we know that Price Bloodstock will have ten really good horses – it’s nice to have one of them.”