Entrenched in the top five of the Hong Kong jockeys’ championship, Andrea Atzeni is hopeful of extending a fine season when he chases a hat-trick of victories on Cody Mo-trained Crystal Powerful in the Class 4 Tsun Yip Handicap (1200m) at Happy Valley on Thursday night (15 February).
With 27 wins and 39 minor placings from 303 mounts, Atzeni sits behind only Zac Purton (65 wins), Karis Teetan (44) and Hugh Bowman (35) after 45 of 88 meetings and the Italian is optimistic Crystal Powerful can strike again tomorrow.
“He obviously won a Class 5 and he stepped up to Class 4 with a bit of a light weight (118lb) and he did it again, although when he hit the front, he was running around a little bit. I thought he did it quite well,” Atzeni said. “He’s still a little immature mentally. He just needs racing. Hopefully there’s a little bit more improvement.
“He obviously likes the track, the handicapper has put him up another seven pounds, he’s still in Class 4 with another nice weight. He’s won twice at the track, which is quite important and if we can overcome the draw (barrier 11), hopefully we can be competitive again.”
Unable to add to his tally of wins at Sha Tin on Monday (12 February), Atzeni had totalled 10 winners across his previous nine meetings and will take eight rides at the city circuit on Thursday.