Andrea Atzeni has dedicated his win in Saturday’s Group One Sydney Cup (3,200m) to late friend Stefano Cherchi, who died earlier this month as a result of injuries suffered in a race fall in Canberra.
Making his third trip to Sydney in recent weeks after visiting Cherchi before he passed, an emotional Atzeni embraced Cherchi’s family after saluting aboard the Ciaron Maher-trained Circle Of Fire.
“It is definitely for him. This is my first time riding in Sydney. I’ve been here three times in the past three weeks, the first two times unfortunately not for good reason,” Atzeni told Australia’s Channel 7.
“The first time I went to Canberra to see Stefano while he was still with us. I spent about 15 hours with him and then I left because I was riding in Hong Kong on the Sunday.
“Then I unfortunately got the bad news that Stefano had left us. You think you’re prepared for something like this but when it comes to it, you’re never prepared.
“It’s very tough. It’s unbelievable for the family to be here today. It must be very tough to be here – it takes a lot of doing for them to be here because I came.”
Italian jockey Atzeni, who jetted down to Australia after riding at Happy Valley on Wednesday night, lifted $5.50 favourite Circle Of Fire to a two-length victory despite the galloper travelling wide.
“He did it the hard way so I didn’t know if he had a lot left in the tank,” Atzeni said.
“To be fair to the horse, he dug deep when the second horse came to him and the further he went the better he was.”
Atzeni will return to Hong Kong overnight and ride at Sha Tin on Sunday, where he has eight rides.
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