Andrea Atzeni has saluted on three of his past 11 mounts, and the Italian-born rider is hoping to continue his strong form when Chilean Group One winner Moments In Time lines up in Sunday’s Class Two Equestrian Handicap (1,400m).

A three-time winner from seven starts in Chile, Moments In Time has drawn gate one, and Atzeni hopes Danny Shum Chap-shing’s recruit can hit the ground running.

“I’ve ridden him a couple of times, and I really like the horse. I galloped him on Thursday with just an easy bit of work. It’s hard to understand the Chilean form, but I couldn’t fault him,” Atzeni said.

Moments In Time landed a first Group One victory in the Nacional Ricardo Lyon (2,000m) last October – the same race won by 2021 Group One Champions & Chater Cup (2,400m) victor Panfield.

On the hunt to snare back-to-back Group One victories, Moments In Time was disqualified when first past the post in South America’s oldest stakes race, the El Ensayo Mega (2,400m), after testing positive for a banned substance.

The galloper has big boots to fill if he is to emulate fellow Chilean import Panfield, but he has shown plenty of promise in his recent trials.

“He trialled quite well at Happy Valley. He’s ready to go, and we’ve got a nice draw with him, which helps,” Atzeni said. “I think he’s smart, but we’ll see.”

Moments In Time is one of two runners on Sunday for the Atzeni-Shum combination, with the unbeaten Champion Method lining up in the Class Four Fencing Handicap (1,200m).

With Zac Purton opting to ride Beauty Destiny, whom connections scratched not long before Thursday’s declarations, Atzeni hopes to make the most of his opportunity aboard Champion Method.

“He’s stepping up in distance, which should suit him, but we haven’t got the best of draws,” Atzeni said of Champion Method, who must contend with gate 10 as he looks to build on his 1,000m debut win on the first day of the season.

“I sat on him on Thursday, and the horse seems in good form, so it’s a nice ride to get.”

Prominent throughout his first start on September 10, Champion Method travelled powerfully before rallying to fend off strong challenges from Ruby Sailing and Timestorm.

This time, the unexposed speedster will have to get past last-start winner My Intelligent, while Rubylot placed first up and may build on that effort after winning his Conghua trial.

Atzeni is one of the beneficiaries of Vincent Ho Chak-yiu’s eight-meeting suspension, picking up two rides that were last ridden by the leading local jockey, including Aestheticism in the Class Four Golf Handicap (1,600m).

Given one point for his last-start runner-up effort from gate 14 over course and distance, the four-year-old looks poised to give a good account of himself.

“It’s a good ride to get. The race looks very tough, but on the back of his last run, he should be quite competitive,” Atzeni said.