Andrea Atzeni believes a return to sprinting will prove decisive for Crimson Flash (120lb) when the four-year-old gelding takes aim at a stacked HK$2.84 million Class 2 Daisy Handicap (1200m) on Wednesday (18 March) at Happy Valley.<\/p>
Trained by Mark Newnham, Crimson Flash steps down in distance after finishing 11th in the HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m) on 1 February. The three-time winner is a dual victor over tomorrow night\u2019s course and distance \u2013 each time under Atzeni.<\/p>
Atzeni said: \u201cThe distance in the Classic Mile was always a question mark, and he clearly didn\u2019t stay. So, he\u2019s freshened up, and he\u2019s had one trial since \u2013 I thought his trial was very good. I sat on him yesterday (Monday, 16 March) on the grass. He seems fresh.\u201d<\/p>
Atzeni, 34, is preparing to partner Top Dragon in the HK$26 million 149th BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) at Sha Tin on Sunday (22 March), and heads into the midweek programme in super form, having ridden seven winners across the past five fixtures.<\/p>
\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to getting back on him at Happy Valley. It should be the right pace for him. Off the back of his last trial, he looks like he\u2019s back in form,\u201d Atzeni said.<\/p>
Crimson Flash faces quality opposition: Colourful King (135lb), Magic Control (128lb), Kaholo Angel (127lb), Brave Star (121lb), Chateauneuf (120lb), Romantic Son (120lb), Young Champion (120lb), Gustosisimo (117lb) and Son Pak Fu (117lb).<\/p>
Atzeni said: \u201cHe\u2019s still young, and it seems like he\u2019s on the up. I do think the little break between the Classic Mile until now has done him really good \u2013 he\u2019s moving great.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”15602″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Now with 36 wins this term and holding third position in the jockeys\u2019 championship, Atzeni believes Chris So\u2019s Top Dragon can make his presence felt in the BMW Hong Kong Derby.<\/p>
\u201cHe\u2019s not had much luck in his last few runs, whether he finds trouble or if it\u2019s the way the races are run for him,\u201d Atzeni said. \u201cThe distance is a question mark, but sometimes you don\u2019t need a 2000-metre horse to win the Derby. If we can get a kind draw and leave him where he\u2019s comfortable, then he\u2019ll be finishing off nicely.\u201d<\/p>
Top Dragon is a three-time winner from 13 starts. The Pierata gelding has finished no worse than fifth this season, which came when he found trouble in the Hong Kong Classic Mile before his last start, losing momentum in the straight behind Stunning Peach.<\/p>
Atzeni said: \u201cIt wouldn\u2019t be a massive surprise if he did win, it looks like a pretty open race at the moment. His trial was fine \u2013 it was an easy trial; we sat last and tried to switch him off. It turned into a bit of a sprint, but he went along nicely.<\/p>
\u201cHe\u2019s a nice horse. Hopefully, if he gets a good trip around, he could run well, whether he can win, I am not sure, but I think he can run well,\u201d Atzeni said.<\/p>
Trainer Jamie Richards hopes Storming Dragon (117lb) can turn his consistency into a hard-earned win when he tackles the Class 3 Hydrangea Handicap (1200m).<\/p>
Richards said: \u201cHe\u2019s running really well. He just costs himself at the start and he doesn\u2019t travel very well for the first half of the race. It looks like he wants to go further, but when you step him up in trip, he lets you down a little bit. He just needs everything to go perfectly for him \u2013 he\u2019s getting down in the ratings now.\u201d<\/p>
Wednesday\u2019s (18 March) nine-race fixture at Happy Valley kicks off at 6.40pm with the Class 5 Aster Handicap (1650m).<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”15601″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Andrea Atzeni believes a return to sprinting will prove decisive for Crimson Flash (120lb) when the four-year-old gelding takes aim at a stacked HK$2.84 million Class 2 Daisy Handicap (1200m) on Wednesday (18 March) at Happy Valley.Trained by Mark Newnham, Crimson Flash steps down in distance after finishing 11th in the… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":15603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"2normal","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15597"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15597"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15597\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15604,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15597\/revisions\/15604"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}