JAP Aneed wins Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Cup for trainer Irfan Ellahi

Antonio Fresu follows up his four-timer at Meydan with double at Sharjah

Ray Dawson on JAP Aneed wins the Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Cup at Sharjah on Sunday, January 9, 2022. Photo: DHRIC

Irfan Ellahi was able to celebrate landing the feature prize at Sharjah on Sunday after JAP Aneed won the Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Cup for Purebred Arabians.

Ridden by Ray Dawson, JAP Aneed took up the running at the halfway mark of the 1,200-metre sprint to come home clear of AF Thayer and Shawall by three-and-a-quarter lengths and two-and-a-quarter lengths respectively.

“He came into this race having won his last start over the 1,000m trip at Al Ain and we were hopeful,” Ellahi said. “The sprint distances seems to suit him best as he won over today’s trip on his racecourse debut in Abu Dhabi just over two years ago. We tried him over the longer distances and the switch to sprinting seems to be working well.”

Antonio Fresu, who claimed four race wins at Meydan two days ago, rode a double to take his tally to 26, two behind the leader Tadhg O’Shea in the UAE Jockey’s Championship title race.

The Italian rider made all on the Ibrahim Al Hadhrami-trained SS Jalmod in the opening race and completed the double by taking the concluding handicap for thoroughbreds on board Musabah Al Muhairi’s Edaraat.

Richard Mullen, on Elise Jeanne’s MH Rahal, bagged the Emirates Breeder’s Trophy for the Arabians, the main supporting prize of the six-race card.

Mullen tracked the leaders and made smooth headway from the 400m mark to win from Fandim by a length-and-a-quarter and the fast finishing Al Ajeeb W’Rsan a further length-and-a-quarter back in third.

Sebastien Martino celebrated his first success in the UAE by taking the next on Jean-Claude Pecout’s Ghallieah half an hour later and Khalifa Al Neyadi, who saddled a double at Al Ain on the previous night, took the third race with Inthar with Omani apprentice Saif Al Balushi in the saddle.