RB Frynchh Dude claims first win in more than 14 months at final meeting in Al Ain

RB Frynchh Dude sealed victory in the Al Ain Cup, the official Prestige status feature prize and the concluding contest of the season-ending meeting at Al Ain on Friday.

A Group 1 winner, the Helal Al Alawi-trained six-year-old son of Baseq Al Khalediah under Omani jockey Abdulaziz Al Balushi romped home to a 14-and-a-half length victory over Goshawke.

It was a fifth career success for RB Frynchh Dude and his third in the UAE and first since his career highlight in the Group 1 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 in January 2021. This was his first appearance out of Group 1 company since that victory.

Omani apprentice Saif Al Balushi rode a double and 10-time UAE champion jockey Tadhg O’Shea added one more winner to take his tally for the season to 68 and 670 winners overall in the Emirates.

Al Balushi won the second and third races on board Khalifa Al Neyadi’s RB Super Duty and Ahmed bin Harmash’s Tabaasheer, but denied a treble when Antonio Fresu produced a strong late run on Smoke N Thunder to pip the Omani on top of Murafiq Al Khalediah.

Farhaan, a colt homebred by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed’s Al Wathba Racing and trained on the track by Jean-Claude Pecout broke his maiden tag at the fourth attempt.

Ridden by Sebastien Martino, the four year old Rabbah De Carrere colt was due a victory having finished runner up on all his three previous starts, each time here at Al Ain.

Sent for home early in the long straight by Martino, Farhaan responded gamely to his rider’s urgings and never looked likely to be caught despite a late challenge from AF Alsarem.

O’Shea guided Ernst Oertel’s AF Mukhrej to wictory in the second last race of the card in the silks of champion owner Khalid Khalifa Al Naboodah.

AF Mukhrej and O’Shea have enjoyed a