In-demand Atzeni closes in on personal-best Hong Kong season

By Paul Ryding

No rider will be busier than Andrea Atzeni at Sunday’s (17 May) Sha Tin meeting when the Italian takes 10 rides as he closes in on his best-ever Hong Kong season.

Atzeni, who reached a century of Sha Tin successes earlier this month, currently has 54 winners for the season and sits third in the jockeys’ rankings behind Australian Hugh Bowman, who has 56 wins this term. Zac Purton is the distant leader with 114 wins.

The 35-year-old’s best Hong Kong season to date came last term when he registered 58 wins on his way to a third-place finish in the jockeys’ championship behind Purton and Bowman. With five winners already in May, and operating at an 11% strike rate, he looks set for a new personal-best Hong Kong campaign.

Among his mounts on the 11-race card is John Size-trained Endeared (131lb), who has hit a purple patch of late-season form and will be one of the leading fancies in the first section of the Class 3 Siu Ma Shan Handicap (1400m).

“He’s a very consistent horse; he never really runs a bad race. He does everything right,” Atzeni said. “If he keeps his form, he’s definitely there with a chance on Sunday.”

The durable six-year-old will line up for the 15th time this season on a 15-day back-up from his third-place effort in a 1650m Sha Tin dirt contest earlier this month. But all four of his career wins in Hong Kong have come on Sha Tin’s 1400m turf course.

“His best form is over 1400 (metres),” said the 31-time Group 1 winner. “We don’t know what the track conditions are going to be on Sunday, but he’s a (son of) Dark Angel out of a Frankel mare, so I don’t think the slow ground is going to be an issue.

“When you’re riding one of John’s, they’re pretty consistent – you know they’re always going to run a good race.”

Another rider enjoying a strong season is Harry Bentley, who surpassed his 2024/25 tally of 31 winners last month. One of the Englishman’s more impressive wins this term came aboard Proud Box, who sealed his maiden win at the eighth attempt when he scampered clear by three lengths in a dominant front-running victory in April.

The Chris So-trained galloper follows up that effort with an added impost of 12lb (129lb) in the first section of the Class 4 Lung Fu Shan Handicap (1400m) this weekend.

“The handicapper hasn’t missed him, but I think it was probably earned after the way he won,” Bentley said.

“He certainly let down for me once I asked. I was surprised how far ahead he was. I thought he would go really well from how he had run previously, but, of course, by that margin, it’s always surprising.”

With the final Group 1 of the season, the HK$13 million Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup (2400m), just over a week away, trainer Frankie Lor oversaw a piece of trackwork by Numbers at Sha Tin on Thursday (14 May).

After an underwhelming Hong Kong Group 1 debut in last month’s HK$30 million G1 FWD QEII Cup (2000m), where he finished seventh in the eight-runner field, Lor has opted to hand the promising four-year-old an opportunity to bounce back at Hong Kong’s maximum trip just a month later.

“He looks okay,” Lor said. “Last start was quite a strong field, and he has improved.”

Sunday’s (17 May) 11-race fixture at Sha Tin starts at 12.45pm with the Class 5 Buffalo Hill Handicap (1800m).