Andrea Atzeni is daring to dream of Group One Melbourne Cup (3,200m) glory after retaining the ride on Zardozi for the Flemington feature on November 5.

Atzeni is locked in to partner the James Cummings-trained mare after he steered her to a respectable fourth in the Group One Caulfield Cup (2,400m) last week.

“James called me yesterday and asked if I was happy to go back and ride her in the Melbourne Cup,” Atzeni told the Post. “It’s a nice ride to get and it’s great to be in these sort of races.

“She gave me a great spin in the Caulfield Cup, I think she’ll stay and she goes on any ground. If we can get a good pitch, hopefully she can run a big race.”

Atzeni is set to head Down Under for the Melbourne Cup for the second time after he finished 17th on Ambivalent back in 2014.

“Riding for Godolphin and James in the Melbourne Cup is fantastic – I’ve ridden in it once but that was a long time ago,” said Atzeni.

“The break between the Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup will do her good and hopefully she can be competitive in what I think looks like quite an open race.”

Zardozi, who has six wins to her name from 18 starts, was narrowly denied by Zac Purton’s Melbourne Cup ride, Land Legend, two starts back in the Group One The Metropolitan (2,400m).