Andrea Atzeni is confident the Aussie can make another successful Group 1 raid when he rides Zardozi in the Caulfield Cup (2400m) on Saturday. Atzeni is one of five Hong Kong jockeys competing in the main race in Australia on Saturday and will be hoping to repeat his last trip Down Under when he won the Group One Sydney Cup (3200m) at Circle Of Fire in April. The Sardinian rider has been asked by Godolphin Australia head trainer James Cummings to place Zardozi in the $5 million (HK$25.95 million) lightweight 51kg category.
Zardozi won the Caulfield Cup on his last start when he finished second to Land Legend, ridden by Hong Kong’s seven-time Caulfield Cup champion jockey Zak Purton, in the Group 1 Metropolitan (2400m) at Randwick. Atzeni was deeply moved by the performance he witnessed in Hong Kong.
What a great ending! Land Legend and Zardozi crossed the finish line as one. And Rhys Jones became a Land legend in the saddle when he won his first G1 at The Metropolitan! 🙌”He ran a great race and had an impact on Land Legend,” Atzeni said. “Not much happened between you two. She is a good mare. It took him a few runs to peak. “It might rain a little bit, but he likes it, so it’s a good ride.”Zardozi, winner of last year’s Group 1 VRC Oaks (2500m) at Flemington, has won five from six on rain-affected tracks in Sydney and Melbourne. The Kingman mare finished 12th in a field of 18 horses. If he doesn’t make three reserve starts, he jumps up from 10th. “If you look at his game, he looks like he needs cover and comes out of midfield, so hopefully he can come out of that position and show the good shooting that he showed before,” Atzeni said .
Atzeni is known as a light rider, but the 33-year-old had to work hard to lose weight to ride Zardozi. “51kg is light enough for me so it will take some effort,” he said. “My lowest weight in Hong Kong is about 52kg and I tried it a few times with a little force. The good news is that now that we’ve been competing for over a month, my weight is where I want it to be. “It took me about three weeks to get where I wanted. Changes in weather and humidity take time to adjust to. Getting to that weight isn’t easy, but I hope it’s worth it.”Zardozi has a big chance in the open edition of the Caulfield Cup, the best benchmark for the Group One Melbourne Cup (3,200m) at Flemington next month.
Land Legend could also compete for a second Caulfield Cup as Purton is eyeing a second Caulfield Cup following his success with Japanese trainee Admire Rakti in 2014. But Land Legend has 83 years of history to overcome. The last Block 1 horse to win a spectacular race was Velocity in 1941. Ben Thompson and Karis Titan are other Hong Kong jockeys competing in the Caulfield Cup. They will ride Saydaty Sadaty and Koko San respectively. The Caulfield Cup will be broadcast live for Hong Kong betting with five races at Randwick and six races on British Champions Day at Ascot on Saturday. Brenton Avdulla will ride Storm Boy in the highly anticipated Everest Sprint (1200m) at Randwick.
