Mutual Force lands inaugural Chengdu Dubai International Cup

Mutual Force won the featured event, capping a double for trainer Ali Rashid al Raihe and jockey Royston Ffrench (Andrew Watkins/Dubai Racing Club)

Royston Ffrench rode a first- and-last-race double, while Dubai trainers Ali
Rashid al Raihe and Musabah al Muhairi, claimed two wins each at Sunday’s
inaugural international raceday at Jinma Lake Racecourse in Wenjiang, a district
in the Garden City of Chengdu.

The first running of the Chengdu Dubai International Cup raceday, staged as a
partnership between the Meydan Group and the Chengdu Municipal Government,
comprised five turf races and represented a first for international horseracing
since it was contested by horses prepared by Dubai Racing Club trainers and
ridden by U.A.E.-based jockeys.

Ffrench ensured a personal piece of racing history when he drove the
five-year-old Albayan, trained at Meydan Racecourse’s Grandstand Stables by al
Raihe, over the line in the opening event, the Wenjiang Sprint over 1,200
meters.

Albayan, a maiden in 11 previous starts, raced clear in the final 300 meters
and came home 4 1/2 lengths ahead of topweight Global City, ridden by Richard
Mullen.

Ffrench and al Raihe later closed the program by winning the richest race,
the Chengdu Dubai International Cup over 2,218 meters, which had a total purse
of RMB 1.5 million (US$241,410), with bottomweight Mutual Force, who got into
the handicap when the weights were raised at declaration stage.

The facilities at Chengdu have earned high praise (Neville Hopwood/Dubai Racing Club)

Special Boy, who took the lead in the last few strides of the afternoon’s
closest finish, was followed home by fellow topweights, Maltese Cat (Tadgh
O’Shea), who went down by a neck, and long-time leader Hacienda (Pat Dobbs), who
was a further 1 1/4 lengths behind in third.

Hitchcott, who rode Colour Guard in one of 16 races when he was trained in
Britain by Mark Johnston, sent the lightly-weighted six-year-old to the front
before the field turned into the 400-meter straight and drove him out to beat
Need To Know (Ffrench) by 2 1/2 lengths, with Centrifugal (Dobbs) a 1 3/4
lengths away third.

The Meydan Mile provided a milestone for trainer Erwan Charpy who saddled
Citizen’s Charter (Jesus Rosales) and FA’IZ (Avranche) to finish first and
second, separated by 1 1/2 lengths.

That victory marked Charpy’s 500th career success, adding to 492 in the
United Arab Emirates and seven in France.