Saudi Cup

Trainer Brad Cox is not prone to any delusions of grandeur where it comes to the chances of 'TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard Bishops Bay (Uncle Mo) against the likes of champion Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}), 'TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard Nysos (Nyquist) and GII Clark Stakes hero Magnitude (Not This Time) in the G1 Saudi Cup at King Abdulaziz Racecourse on Feb. 14. He also realizes that $20 million is a lot to play for and is keen to seize upon the opportunity that presents...

Recently crowned Eclipse champion older dirt male courtesy of his victory in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar Nov. 1. Susumu Fujita's Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}) turned in a strong piece of fast work Wednesday at the Ritto Training Center in advance of his title defense in the $20-million G1 Saudi Cup at King Abdulaziz Racecourse on Feb. 14. The newly turned 5-year-old, trained by the globally successful Yoshito Yahagi, was partnered in a gallop over 1200 meters by his regular jockey Ryusei Sakai and covered...

The Eclipse Award for Older Dirt Male and Female have gone to Japan's Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}) and last year's Horse of the Year, Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna). Forever Young, who returned to Del Mar in 2025 to win the GI Breeders' Cup Classic after coming up just short in 2024, also won this year's G1 Saudi Cup and ran third in the G1 Dubai World Cup, his only non-winning effort across his four starts for trainer Yoshito Yahagi and owner Susumu Fujita. The 2024 Horse of the...

Magnitude (Not This Time), a game winner over older horses in his sophomore finale in the GII Clark S. at Churchill Downs Nov. 28, will make his next start in the $20-million G1 Saudi Cup. Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen will also be well-represented by 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' Obliteration (Violence) in the $1.5-million G3 Saudi Derby on the undercard. Both races will be held at King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Riyadh Feb. 14. "We're very excited to have both of them go," Asmussen said. "The Saudi Cup...

A quartet of Breeders' Cup winners all recorded workouts Sunday at Santa Anita. GI Breeders' Cup F/M Sprint winner Splendora (Audible) and GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Nysos (Nyquist) both worked for trainer Bob Baffert. Splendora drilled four furlongs in :49.00 (47/87) in her third work back since the Breeders' Cup. The 5-year-old is a candidate for the GII D. Wayne Lukas Stakes for fillies and mares going seven furlongs Feb. 7. Nysos, working for the first time since winning the Dec. 28 GII Laffit Pincay Jr. Stakes, went...

The Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia has announced that the purse for the Howden Neom Turf Cup, which has recently been upgraded to Group 1 status, has been increased to $3m for 2026. The 2,100m invitational race will be the first Group 1 to be staged on turf in Saudi Arabia and takes place on the Saudi Cup card on Saturday, February 14. The meeting has been further enhanced by a 50 per cent increase in prize-money for the 1,800m Listed Tuwaiq Cup, which will now be run for $1m....

It has been well-documented that you have to go all the way back to Thunder Gulch in 1994 to find the last winner of the GII Remsen Stakes to go on to double up in the GI Kentucky Derby. But the nine-furlong contest, which offers the winner 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, has seen its profile elevated by the results of the last handful of runnings. In 2021, Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo) dropped his nose down on the line ahead of Zandon (Upstart) and the duo...

The Howden Neom Turf Cup, one of the highlights of the Saudi Cup meeting, has been upgraded to Group 1 status ahead of next year's running. Meanwhile, global insurance broker Howden has extended its partnership with the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia (JCSA) for a further three years, taking the race sponsorship to 2028.   The addition of the Howden Neom Turf Cup to The Saudi Cup's line up of Group 1 races now takes the tally of top flight contests on the day to three, with a glittering undercard including...

DEL MAR, Calif -- "I drank too much." Ever the professional, even when feeling a little worse for wear, Yoshito Yahagi was at a 7.30 a.m. press call with his Breeders' Cup Classic winner Forever Young (Jpn). The latter was looking sparkier than his trainer, but then he hadn't been out late in a Mexican restaurant celebrating the LA Dodgers sealing back-to-back wins in the World Series. "I'm a bit hungover. The horse is in much better condition than me," Yahagi admitted. An avowed fan of baseball, he unzipped his...

Leon King Stable's Bentornato (Valiant Minister) put in a half-mile breeze Saturday ahead of an expected next start in the GI Cygames Breeders' Cup Sprint Nov. 1 at Del Mar. Working under regular pilot Irad Ortiz Jr., last year's Sprint runner up went in :50.80. Bentornato will also be a part of the Keeneland Championship Sale held just prior to the Breeders' Cup, with a 25% ownership interest on offer Oct. 29 at Del Mar. Trainer Jose D'Angelo noted that Bentornato's past and future racing schedule will appeal to buyers...

Lucky Seven Stable and Sharaf Mohamed Alhairi's Rattle N Roll (Connect), who rallied from the back of the back to finish a creditable fifth to Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}) and Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) in the G1 Saudi Cup on Feb. 22, has officially been invited to participate in the $12-million G1 Dubai World Cup at Meydan Racecourse Apr. 5, trainer Ken McPeek tweeted Mar. 21. The 6-year-old failed to draw into last year's GI Breeders' Cup Classic and was rerouted for the GII Clark Stakes Nov....

Aron Wellman, the president and founder of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, has had big days, buy maybe nothing quite like the one he had last Saturday. Horses owned in part by Eclipse won the GI Santa Anita Handicap, the GII San Felipe and the GIII Herecomesthebride Stakes. And while that was going on he was putting the finishing touches on an agreement for his Big Cap winner Locked (Gun Runner) to stand at stud at Gainesway. With many subjects to cover, Wellman was this week's guest on the TDN Writers' Room...