Yahoo Finance Atzeni aiming to continue fine Hong Kong start at HKIR
ITALIAN and former British-based jockey Andrea Atzeni has hit the ground running in Hong Kong since moving over in the summer and he will bid to keep up the momentum on LONGINES Hong Kong International Races day at Sha Tin on Sunday.
Despite winning the Group 1 Prix Morny on Vandeek in August, he made the decision to leave Great Britain for Hong Kong shortly afterwards and he has already made an immediate impact, sitting sixth in the jockeys’ championship with 13 winners.
The 32-year-old has been able to draw on his experience from when he was licenced in Hong Kong during the 2014/15 season and on Sunday he will bid to win a Group 1 in an eighth different racing jurisdiction.
“It’s going pretty good,” he said after riding trackwork on Thursday morning. “I’ve been here for just over three months.
“It took a bit of time to settle in with the time difference and getting to know the track and the trainers. I’ve had three doubles since I’ve been here and ridden 13 winners.
“I’ve adapted to the racing style a lot quicker than I thought. It’s completely different from the European style of racing, it’s much sharper.
“The average races are from five furlongs to a mile, with only a few over nine or 10 furlongs and that’s as far as you go. Everything happens a lot quicker here and Happy Valley is very sharp.
“You’ve got to be mentally quite strong. It’s a very tight system, there are only so many horses, trainers and jockeys. It’s tough anywhere in the world but I can’t complain.”
“One of the good things is I can do pretty much any weight so if I get an offer for a good ride I can just take it without having to worry about that because a lot of trainers can book you two or three weeks in advance for a horse.
“The Group races here are handicaps so a horse can carry 8st 3lb, which I can do, whereas other jockeys have to wait until they can commit, so that works to my advantage sometimes.”
Atzeni is hoping his promising start in Hong Kong extends to Sunday’s headline meeting, when he will partner six horses including Nimble Nimbus in the LONGINES Hong Kong Cup and Lucky With You in the LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint.
“Nimble Nimbus ran very well the last day,” he said of the Ricky Yiu-trained five-time winner. “It’s a big step up in grade and he’s got to improve on the ratings quite a bit but he’s a consistent horse, I just hope he runs well.”
Atzeni has ridden Lucky With You on both his starts since joining Frankie Lor’s stable and believes his attitude can stand him in good stead against the likes of Lucky Sweynesse, Highfield Princess and Mad Cool.
“Lucky With You is the same,” he said. “He’s a very straightforward horse. I won a Class 2 on him and he ran okay last time. They’re two outside chances, it would be nice to pick up some pieces.”
LONGINES Hong Kong International Races day at Sha Tin begins at 4:25am on Sunday, with all 10 races live on Sky Sports Racing.
