King Abdulaziz Racecourse

[tdn-newsletter-embed]Three of the four previous runnings of the $1.5-million G3 Boutique Group Saudi Derby had been decided by less than a length, including a them-versus-us showdown last year when the locally based Commissioner King (Commissioner) outlasted America's Havnameltdown (Uncaptured) by a head in a real war of attrition. Susumu Fujita's Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}) had been the recipient of as much lip service as any horse on the grounds in Riyadh over the past several days, his latest seven-length romp in the Listed Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun stamping him...

Fasig-Tipton will sponsor a world-record Best Turned Out prize of $2,666 (SAR 10,000) for the world's richest race, the Group 1, $20 million Saudi Cup Feb. 24, the auction house said in a release early Friday. Best Turned Out honors for each of the remaining eight races of The Saudi Cup Saturday card will also be offered, with prizes of $667 (SAR 2,500) to each winning groom. Fasig-Tipton will be represented on site by Anna Seitz (Director of Client Relations) and Michael Adolphson (Middle East Representative), who will help judge...

The Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia (JCSA) has published the likely fields for the Saudi Cup meeting to be held Saturday, Feb. 24, at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. The United States is set to be represented by a five-strong entry in the $20-million richest race in the world, a team headed by White Abarrio (Race Day), who will be making his first start since besting Derma Sotogake (Jpn) (Mind Your Biscuits) in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita Nov. 4. The 5-year-old, trained...

The Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia (JCSA) has released the names of the 1162 entries--including 41 Grade I/Group 1 winners--from no fewer than 15 racing jurisdictions around the world for the US$33.5 million Saudi Cup meeting to be held at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. Prize money is up by $2.25 million as compared to the 2023 renewal, reflecting the upgrades of the Neom Turf Cup (2100mT) and 1351 Turf Sprint to international Group 2 status. One of the two races for Purebred Arabians--the Al Mneefah...

Jimmy Jerkens arrived in Saudi Arabia to embark on a new and very different chapter in his training career two months ago and what he's learned so far is that the learning curve is steeper than he had imagined. From the language to the culture to the racing itself, everything is different. He believes he will find his way, but has come to understand that it may take some time. Jerkens sent out his first starter on July 15 and finished second with a horse named Honky Tonk Man (Tamayuz)....

The Saudi Cup International Jockeys Challenge, led by defending champion Caitlin Jones, plus a mix of international female and male riders like Victoria Alonso, Joanna Mason, Frankie Dettori, Luis Saez, Joao Moreia, and Chantal Sutherland, is set for King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Saudi Arabia on Friday. The jockeys will compete to receive 15% of prize-money for each of the four $400,000 races in they win with a further $100,000 going to the overall champion. "It is my first time in Saudi Arabia and I'm actually blown away by the hospitality...

Knicks Go (Paynter) and Charlatan (Speightstown), a pair of major forces headlining the American racing scene in 2020, take on 12 others in Saturday's $20-million Saudi World Cup at King Abdulaziz Racecourse outside Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Both Grade I winners in their latest starts, the pair represent two of America's leading trainers, Brad Cox, who took home his first Eclipse Award last season, and Bob Baffert, a 2020 finalist who had previously annexed four training titles. Knicks Go, winner of the 2018 GI Breeders' Futurity S. while under the care...

Grade I-winning jockey Kazushi Kimura, who was named the 2019 Eclipse Award Outstanding Apprentice Jockey, will spend the winter of 2020/21 riding primarily for Prince Sultan bin Mishal bin Abdulaziz in Saudi Arabia, he confirmed to the TDN on Sunday. "Yes," Kimura told the TDN regarding his Saudi Arabian posting. "I'm gonna ride in Saudi Arabia until the middle of March, then I will be back to Woodbine before the opening day." Kimura, who was also Canada's Outstanding Apprentice Jockey in 2018, celebrated four graded winners in 2020 led by...

Group 1 winner Oxted (GB) (Mayson {GB}) could contest one of the races on the Feb. 20 $20-million Saudi Cup card. Under consideration for the 2020 G1 July Cup victor is a $1.5-million six-furlong race on the King Abdulaziz Racecourse's main track and the 1351 Turf Sprint. Oxted has never raced over a dirt surface. "The obvious one for us would be the Turf Sprint which is run over about six and three-quarter furlongs," said trainer Roger Teal. "I suppose his ideal trip would be six, but he has won...

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - The anticipation continued to build ahead of the $29-million Saudi Cup card, with a large crowd of locals and visitors on hand Thursday to watch contenders gallop over the mammoth King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Riyadh two days before the country's biggest-ever day of horse racing. Among the Americans on hand trackside on a chilly morning which quickly turned warmer as the sun rose was West Point Thoroughbreds' Terry Finley and bloodstock agent Bruno DeBerdt. "I've been to Dubai a couple of times, but I was really...

The inaugural $29.2-million Saudi Cup card at King Abdulaziz Racecourse on Feb. 29 drew 66 runners from overseas, including 21 Group/Grade 1 winners, HRH Prince Bandar bin Khalid Al Faisal, Chairman of the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia, announced on Wednesday. The full list of runners for the eight-race Saturday card have won a combined 32 top-level races. Some of the big names in the $20-million Saudi Cup include:  recent GI Pegasus World Cup winner Mucho Gusto (Mucho Macho Man) who squares off with Bob Baffert stablemate and MGISW McKinzie...

The inaugural US$29.2-million Saudi Cup program, to be held at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in the capital of Riyadh Saturday, Feb. 29, has attracted 964 entries from connections of horses from all corners of the globe. The meeting's centerpiece is the $20-million Saudi Cup at 1800 meters on dirt and attracted over 140 nominations from 60 different trainers from four continents, representing 16 countries. The world's richest horse race has entries from Argentina, Bahrain, Japan, Korea, Poland and Turkey, but American runners figure to take all the beating. Midnight Bisou (Midnight...