Andrea Atzeni joins a stellar list of jockeys to have reached the landmark including three-time Champion Jockeys Frankie Dettori, Ryan Moore and Silvestre de Sousa.
On reaching the milestone, Atzeni, said: “When moving over here from Italy, from a family with no racing background, I would never have dreamed of reaching 1,000 winners at this stage in my career, so it’s a fantastic achievement.
“I’ve been very lucky to have great support throughout my career starting out as an apprentice and then the relationship with Roger Varian and Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum which has obviously been a key part of my success. But I think I’ve ridden for nearly every trainer in Britain, so it’s very much a team effort.”
The 1000th winner for Andrea Atzeni marked his 31st success at the Haydock Park racecourse, with his highest performing tracks to date being Kempton Park (101) and Wolverhampton (92)
Amongst the 1,000 wins, Italian-born Atzeni, who is now based in Newmarket, has claimed 15 British Group 1 victories including three wins at the highest level with Postponed who was trained by Luca Cumani before moving to Roger Varian.
It was under that partnership that Postponed won the Juddmonte International Stakes and Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Cup in 2016 and more recently Defoe, in the same colours won the 2019 Investec Coronation Cup at Epsom Racecourse.
Unsurprisingly it is with trainer Roger Varian that Atzeni has enjoyed the most success with the pair notching up a total of 305 wins together.
Roger Varian said: “Andrea is not only a super nice guy, but a very talented and natural rider who gives you confidence. Nothing has come easy for him, coming over from Italy not being able to speak much English, but he has worked so hard to get to where he is now.”
“We’ve enjoyed many great days together, from Kingston Hill winning the St Leger and coming second in The Derby, to Postponed and most recently Defoe. Hopefully the best days are still to come. He very much feels like part of the family, my kids have even named one of their rocking horses after him!”
Discussing his career highlights, Atzeni said: “I’d have to say Postponed, who is probably the best horse I’ve ever ridden and it was amazing to have all of those wins with him, but also my first ever British Group 1 which was with Roger Varian and Kingston Hill in the Racing Post Trophy. It is always good to get the first one out of the way!”
