South African jockey Robbie Fradd has regained the prized ride aboard Hong Kong's star galloper Electronic Unicorn - five days after being cleared of cheating at gambling. Electronic Unicorn will attempt to win his third successive Chevalier Cup at Sha Tin on Sunday en route to the Hong Kong Mile.
The switch to Fradd from Frenchman Olivier Doleuze has come at the request of owner Lo Ying-bin, who was quick to return to the partnership which established the John Size-trained Electronic Unicorn as Hong Kong's Horse of the Year last season.
'What about that? It's unbelievable,' Fradd said yesterday after the engagement was confirmed. 'Just after I was cleared of the charge in the court, the owner rang me late last week and said he would like me to ride the horse again if I was issued a licence.
'Since I was licensed on Saturday, we spoke again and it's absolutely great. Of course, I accepted the offer, who wouldn't?'
Fradd, 37, combined to win the National Panasonic Cup, Chevalier Cup and Stewards' Cup with Electronic Unicorn last season and finished runner-up in the Hong Kong Mile last December.
His arrest and subsequent loss of the coveted ride coincided with the gelding's only domestic losses in the past year - for Shane Dye in the Hong Kong Gold Cup last February and for Doleuze in the National Panasonic Cup first-up this season.
With Fradd returning to the saddle on Sunday, owner Lo has sent a clear signal that he had no qualms about the jockey's beaten performance on his other horse, Winning Dragon. Fradd's defeat on Winning Dragon last January was the source of the District Court case which ended last Thursday with the jockey's acquittal, but Fradd's display still brought negative allegations from the New Zealand steward who acted as expert witness for the prosecution and from the presiding judge.