G3 Saudi Derby

Third at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in February in the G3 Saudi Derby behind Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}) and Book'em Danno (Bucchero), who have each distinguished themselves on the world stage since that day, Bentornato (c, 3, Valiant Minister--Her Special Way, by Put It Back) took advantage of his own moment to shine Saturday in the GII Gallant Bob Stakes at Parx. The Florida-bred and Leon King Stable Corp. colorbearer captured his first graded stakes after a string of black-type wins in Florida last year while also keeping his...

[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...

by Alan Carasso, Heather Anderson & Jill Williams Following the Thursday scratching of Meisho Hario (Jpn) (Pyro), Japan is left with a team of four as they look for back-to-back victories in the world's richest horserace, the $20-million G1 Saudi Cup at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh. After fielding five starters in the first three runnings of the 1800-metre contest--a pair of sixth-place efforts were the best they could do--no fewer than a half-dozen jetted in from the Land of the Rising Sun 12 months ago, and the results were...