Andrea Atzeni put on a clinic at Sha Tin’s dirt meeting on Wednesday night, smashing in a brilliant treble headlined by the fantastic all-the-way success of New Forest in the feature Class Two Tin Chak Handicap (1,650m).

It was the second time the Sardinian jockey has ridden a treble in the city, building on his maiden three-timer last April, and a pair of his winners saw him go from pillar to post in dominant fashion.

He will struggle to ride many easier winners than New Forest, who had gained all three of his prior local wins over the course and distance and made it three victories from his past four starts.

Against some smart opposition, it was a sense of deja vu as Atzeni took the bull by the horns to send New Forest to the lead straight after the start.

Turning in, Atzeni turned the screw and the pair motored clear, building an unassailable lead to defeat the fast-finishing Gorgeous Win and stablemate Talents Ambition.

“In a small field, he got control of the pace and he’s always hard to beat when he does that,” said New Forest’s trainer Mark Newnham. “He had a very easy time of it, which made it harder for Talents Ambition, but it helped New Forest.

“I don’t think either of them will be going to Dubai now, but we can build on this season with both of them – there will be other races for them.

“Talents Ambition has been running consistently well but he needs a pace on as he gets back.”

Atzeni got his night off to the perfect start when Noble Deluxe made it 18th time lucky in the Class Five Kam Shan Handicap (1,200m) for trainer John Size.

Settled third behind duelling leaders, the pair looked to be in trouble coming into the straight but once Atzeni got his mount into the clear, he finally got a winning tune of the Toronado gelding by an easy length and three-quarters.

“There’s a race for every horse in Hong Kong and that might be his,” said Size. “He did win like a horse that would win again and I’d be hopeful he will in time.

“He got in a nice position and the class of the race helped a bit too. He’s a healthy and sound horse – he’s always in good shape but sometimes his commitment isn’t quite what it should be. Hopefully he can kick on from here.”

Atzeni completed his treble – again teaming up with Size – when Sight Dreamer made all the running to win back-to-back races in the Class Four Diamond Hill Handicap (1,650m).

There was also a brace for trainer Danny Shum Chap-shing, who celebrated his 900th winner in Hong Kong when Blazing Wind was a narrow victor of the Class Three Shui Chuen O Handicap (1,200m) under Zac Purton.

The all-weather specialist bagged his third success over the dirt 1,200m trip after a fierce battle with runner-up Gummy Gummy, bringing up another milestone for Shum.

“I always say, the first 10 years of my training, I was not that good, but the last 10 years I’m doing much better because I’m more concentrated on my job,” said Shum. “You can see the last ten years, my results tell you a lot and I’ve had a lot of good horses to help too.”

Shum and Purton’s double in tandem was kicked off by the success of Forever Folks in the Class Four Po Shek Wu Handicap (1,800m).

There was also a race-to-race double for Brett Crawford, who continued his great record with stable transfers when Celestial Harmony saluted on stable debut under Lyle Hewitson in the Class Five Silvermine Bay Handicap (1,650m).

The stable was quickly back on the scoresheet when Speedy Smartie decimated his rivals by four and three-quarter lengths in the first section of the Class Four Marble Handicap (1,200m).