Wedding party is postponed for Atzeni to bring back Arc
THERE is a lot riding on Postponed in Sunday’s Prix de L’Arc de Triomphe and jockey Andrea Atzeni knows it. It is not only the hopes of trainer Roger Varian, a mentor to the Italian rider, and owner Sheik Mohammed Obaid at stake when he lines up on the 7-4 favourite for Europe’s biggest all-age, middledistance race at its temporary Chantilly home.
Victory for Atzeni and Postponed will also be important to his cousin Martina in his home village of Nurri in Sardinia. On Sunday, she gets married. Atzeni’s brother Luca is travelling to France but his other relatives, including father Giuliano and mother Rita, will be at Martina’s wedding.
The 400 guests will be a little distracted by events at Chantilly and the performance of Martina’s riding relative could affect the party mood. After the race, Atzeni will fly home from Paris for the reception. He would dearly love to have the Arc trophy among his hand luggage.
The jockey, who rode his 100th winner of the year on Sun Lover at Newcastle yesterday, said: ‘They will all be watching so it will be nice to go home with the trophy.
‘My dad is my biggest fan. He follows racing every day. If he goes away to see a friend, he takes his laptop to keep in touch with what I am doing.
‘This is the biggest and most important ride I have ever had.
‘Three or four years ago I was trying to make a living out of the game. Now I am on the favourite for the Arc. It’s a dream really.’
The fact that the farmer’s son is hiring a private plane to ferry him home is also an indication of the massive strides made by the boy who left Italy at 15 to follow a path trod by his hero Frankie Dettori.
The initial struggles in Britain are a fading memory. A first win in a Group One race arrived in October 2012 and 14 have followed at a gallop since.
Four of them have been on Postponed and horse and jockey have forged a close bond. When Atzeni talks about Postponed, the affection is tangible in his voice.
He rode the colt in its first race at Newmarket in July 2013 and has partnered him in all but four of his 17 contests. He also is the man on board when Postponed does his fast work on the Newmarket trial grounds.
Atzeni, 25, said: ‘I am very attached to him. But who wouldn’t with a horse like him? We are talking about one of the best. There are routine horses you get on and off but horses like Postponed are very hard to come by.
‘Every time I get on him, he knows. He grows about three inches and says, “Let’s get the job done”. He gets into race mode.’
Race mode for Postponed is, in Atzeni’s words, Ferrari style.
His four wins this season include slamming Found, one of his big rivals on Sunday, by over four lengths in the Coronation Cup at Epsom and dropping back in distance to emphatically beat Highland Reel, another Arc opponent, in York’s Juddmonte International Stakes.
The only blip this summer was the respiratory infection which prevented Postponed trying to win a second King George.
Atzeni said: ‘Every year he has got better. This season he has more speed. Previously, he was more of a grinder. We had no doubts about dropping him back in trip.
‘After the Juddmonte, he was like a different horse. He went there good but not 100 per cent. A lot of horses can get knocked back. He came out even better.’ Atzeni smiles as he delivers the last few words. Martina’s reception might be one hell of a party.