Chengdu, China: The feature race of the afternoon at the fourth running of the Chengdu Dubai International Cup at the Jimmaa Lake Racecourse in Chengdu, China, was a case of deja-vu for Emirati trainer Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
Twelve months after crossing the finishing line first in the Longines sponsored Dubai International Cup without his rider, Skygazer suitably gained compensation in the hands of Royston Ffrench on Sunday when he held off Starlight, the mount of Adrie De Vries, in a close finish.
Ffrench described the victory as being ‘especially nice to win for my old boss.”
First launched in 2014, through the partnership of the Meydan Group, Chengdu’s municipal government, Chengdu sports bureau, Wenjiang district government, and China Guangsha Group, the events consists of five races.
It’s objective is to strengthen ties between China and the UAE.
Horses, grooms, exercise riders, vets, farriers, starting stall team and all the requisite racing officials needed to run a race day under Emirates Racing Authority Rules were involved in the event.
It is a good goal for those horses who may have had to miss the Dubai season for whatever reason and would otherwise have to wait until the end of the year for 2017/18 season to begin racing again.
All the horses were leased to Chinese connections for the purpose of this one race day, and appeared in the racecard under those names with the accompanying set of jockey colours alongside.
It is an interesting concept which gives obvious delight to the owners for the day.
The turf track looked in superb condition ahead of the first race which was the first of two legs of a jockey challenge competition, featuring five riders from China and five internationals who rode in Dubai. The internationals won the challenge — though maybe in future years and with more training the Chinese riders will improve enough to win the event.
The first leg of the Dubai International Jockeys Challenge went to the Maria Ritchie-trained Damar, who, despite being steered very wide on the turn into the home straight by Wenxun Wang, still went on to win nicely from fellow wide runner Crowdmania and Adrie De Vries.
It was winning jockey Wenxun Wangs’ first ever race ride at Chengdu so all kudos to him.
The second leg of the jockey challenge over the mile course went to Pat Dobbs aboard the Satish Seemar-trained Sky Jockey. The same trainers Signs in the Sand was a mere neck away under Yi Chen.
With several tight finishes and doubles for UAE-based trainers Maria Ritchie and Ali Rashid Al Raihe, as well as a success for a Chinese rider Wenxun Wang, it can be safely said that the day continues to go from strength to strength and everyone who was lucky enough to take part will be looking forward to more next year.
