The Chengdu Dubai International Cup was established to help strengthen the ties between China and the United Arab Emirates. (Photo : Getty Images)
Skygazer, ridden by Royston Ffrench and trained by Ali Rashid Al Raihe, won in Sunday's successful fourth running of the Chengdu Dubai International Cup, held at the Jimmaa Lake Racecourse in Chengdu, China, gulfnews.com reported.
The 5-year-old horse took the lead 400 meters from the winning post, emerging triumphant in its close-finish match against Starlight, the mount of Dutch jockey Adrie De Vries.
The victory came a year after Skygazer crossed the finishing line first in the Dubai International Cup without his rider.
Ffrench also claimed his second Chengdu Dubai International Cup after winning in the same competition back in 2014.
The competition was first launched in the same year to strengthen the ties between China and the United Arab Emirates. It was initiated through the partnership of Chengdu's municipal government, the Chengdu Sports Bureau, the Wenjiang district government, the Meydan Group and the China Guangsha Group.
The event, which includes five races, is considered as a good goal for horses that might have missed that Dubai season.
In the Chengdu Dubai International Cup, horses are being leased to Chinese connections. They appear in the race card under their owners for the day, adjacent to the corresponding set of jockey colors.
For this year, the cup featured a challenge for international jockeys. A quintet of Chinese jockeys--composed of Bate Bayier, Wang Wenxun, Ma Liankai, Chen Yi and Yu Xuewen--came up against nine jockeys who previously rode in the 2016-2017 season of the Dubai Racing Club.
The competitors included Holland's Adrie de Vries; Ireland's Marc Monaghan and Pat Dobbs; U.K.'s Sam Hitchcott, Adam McLea, and Royston Ffrench; France's Gerald Avranche; South Africa's Bernard Fayd'Herbe; and Argentina's Jesus Rosales.
The opening competition, the 1,400-meter Wenjiang Sprint, which coincides with the first leg of the jockey's competition, was won by Wenxun, who rode Maria Ritchie-trained Damar.
Meanwhile, the second leg, the 1,600-meter Guangsha Handicap, was claimed by Pat Dobbs on the Satish Seemar-trained Sky Jockey.
The inaugural jockey challenge went in favor of the international riders, 28-20.
