By Jack Dawling
Few riders have slipped into the rhythm of Happy Valley quite like Andrea Atzeni this season and tonight he returns with a book of rides that could well add to his growing win tally for the 2024-25 campaign.
With 45 victories to his name this term – and exactly a quarter of the season still to come – Atzeni is rapidly closing in on the 48 he recorded in his first full campaign in the city.
The Sardinian-born rider has vaulted from seventh to third in the jockey's premiership thanks to his stellar run of form since the turn of the year, especially under the lights of the city track.
A remarkable 26 of his winners this term have come at Happy Valley, marking a big turnaround from last season when the lion’s share of his success came at Sha Tin.
"Last year was the other way around and most of my winners were at Sha Tin because every time I went to the Valley, I never really went with the best rides," Atzeni told The Standard.
"This season, I've had Beauty Destiny who won five there and even Colourful King has won two recently. The numbers soon add up and it's nice to have landed on the right horses."
It's Colourful King who again leads the charge for Atzeni tonight among his strong book of rides, which also includes another horse looking for a third consecutive win in the form of Crystal Powerful.
"It looks like a really good book," the Italian said. "Colourful King was pretty impressive last time and I thought he won quite cozily. He's now up in Class 2 with a light weight and hopefully he can be competitive again."
Only Zac Purton has won more races than Atzeni at Happy Valley this season and the latter is looking to continue his strong form aboard the David Eustace-trained Colourful King, who stretched to an impressive two-length win over Happy Valley's 1,000-meter course last time out and lines up in the third race of the card.
"He's been lucky with draws and it looks like there could be quite a bit of pace in the race which is good," Atzeni said. "Hopefully we can jump well, follow a few and let him hit the line strong."
He's also confident Crystal Powerful can handle the return to 1,200m when he lines up in the sixth race of the meeting on the back of consecutive wins over 1,000m.
"He's a different horse this season and he's shown a lot more early speed in his races," Atzeni said. "Dropping back to 1,000m has really suited him but I think the key to him is getting a good draw because he's a horse that needs cover."
