Circle Of Fire provides emotional Cup win for Atzeni
British import Circle Of Fire (Almanzor) continued his rapid progression up the staying ladder, and handed Ciaron Maher the first leg of a quickfire Group 1 double, when dominating Saturday’s Sydney Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) at Randwick.
Having just his fourth start since relocating from Newmarket-based trainer Sir Michael Stoute, the four-year-old entire opened his Australian account on his latest start when he landed the Chairman’s Stakes (Gr 2, 2600m) on April 6.
Ridden by Hong Kong-based Andrea Atzeni, with his last-start jockey Dylan Gibbons opting to remain with last month’s Tancred Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) hero Kalapour (War Command), Circle Of Fire sat third for most of the 3200-metre journey before looming up three-wide on the home turn.
Still travelling well under his rider, the son of Almanzor (Wootton Bassett) took up the lead with 300 metres left to run and, although pushed by eventual runner-up Athabascan (Almanzor), stayed on strongly to score by 2.1 lengths at the line with a further half-length back to Kalapour in third.
With the family of late jockey Stefano Cherchi on track to witness the result, Atzeni – who had acted as a mentor to the late rider – paid tribute to his close friend following the race.
“It is definitely for him. It has been a tough time for his family and it is amazing to see them here,” an emotional 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 are 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. It is very tough and I must say how unbelievable the family has been.”
On his winning ride, Atzeni continued: “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.
“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.
“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.”
Having been a winner and stakes-placed on three occasions in the UK, Circle Of Fire (4 h Almanzor – Fiery Sunset by Galileo) was bred by the late Queen Elizabeth and is a half-brother to Grade 3 scorer Evening Sun (Muhaarar).
The British-bred is out of the winning Galileo (Sadler’s Wells) 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 (Traffic Judge).
Saturday’s win provided Cambridge Stud shuttler Almanzor with his second winner at Group 1 level, with VRC Derby (Gr 1, 2500m) winner Manzoice his other. Almanzor is standing at Haras d’Etreham in France for a fee of €10,000 (approx. AU$16,400).