Globetrotting jockey Andrea Atzeni dedicated the win of Circle Of Fire (GB) in Saturday's $2,000,000 Group 1 Schweppes Sydney Cup (32000m) at Randwick to the memory of his friend Stefano Cherchi.
After opening his Australian account in last week's Group II Chairman's Quality, the Ciaron Maher-trained gelding had few favours in the run. He was caught three wide early and needed to be the superior stayer. The lightly raced son of Almanzor (FR) kept up a relentless gallop to defeat Athabascan (FR) by two lengths and credit Cambridge Stud's shuttler Almanzor (FR) with the quinella.
Kalapour (IRE) (War Command) was a half-length back in third.
With Stefano Cherchi's family on track, Atzeni paid tribute to his friend.
"It is definitely for him. It has been a tough time for his family and it is amazing to see them here," an emotional Andrea Atzeni said.
"It must be very tough for them to be here, and they are here because I came.
"It wouldn't have been an easy decision for them to come racing today. It shows how tough they and and it shows that unfortunately Stefano left us doing what he wanted to do and what he loved doing.
"We spent a lot of time together at Newmarket and I kept in touch with him closely when he moved to Australia. I thought it was a great idea for him to come here and try his luck.
"Unfortunately it didn't last very long.
"I’ve been here three times in the last three weeks. The first time, unfortunately, not for a good reason.
“I came to see Stefano when he was still with us. I spent about 15 hours with him. I left because I was riding in Hong Kong on the Sunday and unfortunately I 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 can’t prepare.
“It is very tough and I must say how unbelievable the family have been.
“I have been speaking to his parents and sister every day and I can’t talk how highly enough they have been treated in Australia. The doctors, the nurses, everyone in racing.
“You know when Ciaron Maher gives you a ring, you are certain that he has a good one. Thank you to the Hong Kong Jockey Club for allowing me to be here today. I’m back there tomorrow.”
Atzeni said few things went right in the run.
“I didn’t like it. The plan was to to get into a nice rhythm with a bit of cover,” he said.
“He raced very keen last time so we wanted to get in behind something. I jumped away nicely.
“I tried early on to get in behind something and I couldn’t so I went forward.
“Trying to get in before the bend, that didn’t work either. So it was hard work for me. When I turned into the straight he travelled very strongly. He did it the hard way so I didn’t know if he had a lot left in the tank.
“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.”
A winner and stakes-placed three times when carrying the royal colours for Sir Michael Stoute, Circle Of Fire (GB) advances his record to three wins, a second, and three thirds from 10 starts with earnings of $1,578,187.
Bred by the late Queen Elizabeth II, Circle Of Fire is a half-brother to the American Gr III winner Evening Sun (Muhaarar).
He is out of the winning Galileo mare Fiery Sunset, a half-sister to Absolutely Win (Oasis Dream), a stakes winner in Macau, and a descendant of the blue hen Best In Show (USA).
