Saudi Arabia

Two-time Grade I winner Defunded (Dialed In) will point towards the G1 Saudi Cup for new connections after having been privately purchased. The news, announced Saturday evening via a release, notes that the colt was bought for an undisclosed sum by Dr. Muhaideb Abdullah Almuhaideb's HDB Racing Stable, a new Saudi Arabian owner, and arrived in Saudi Arabia Dec. 18. "He is an exceptional horse and has the profile, hopefully, to be a great asset to Riyadh racing and to do well in the Saudi Cup," said Khalid Mishref. In...

Najd Stud has become increasingly active on the European sales scene for the past five years and now the operation has made its maiden voyage to American soil for the Keeneland November Sale. The Saudi Arabian breeding and racing operation of HRH Prince Faisal Bin Khaled Bin Abdulaziz collected a sizeable group of weanlings, plus a handful of mares and horses of racing age, to take back to Saudi Arabia. Saud Al Qahtani, who represented Najd Stud at Keeneland throughout the auction, spoke on their decision to expand their buying...

Trainer Jimmy Jerkens, who relocated to Saudi Arabia earlier this year to take up a position as private trainer to Prince Faisal bin Khalid Al Saud, was represented by his first winner when  Honky Tonk Man (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}) won a 1400-meter allowance Saturday afternoon at King Khalid Racecourse in Ta'if, about 500 miles southwest of Riyadh. Ridden by former U.S.-based jockey Wigberto Ramos from gate 16, Honky Tonk Man--who was second to fellow American-bred Chiefdom (The Factor) when becoming Jerkens's first runner in a 0-90 handicap July 15--raced with...

Pat Cosgrave, champion apprentice in Ireland in 2003 and the winner of Group 1 contests in Europe, Australia and the Middle East, will serve as the retained rider for Prince Saud Bin Salman Abdulaziz. "I'd only been back from Dubai [back in March] for a couple of weeks and was approached by Prince Saud Bin Salman Abdulaziz's team about the opportunity," Cosgrave explained. ""I knew how successful their operation was over there, particularly given they won the Saudi Cup back in 2022 with Emblem Road, but it was a tricky...

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)....

Veteran New York trainer Jimmy Jerkens, 64, whose stable has been slumping in recent years, has agreed to train in Saudi Arabia for Prince Faisal bin Khalid Al Saud. Jerkens said he will likely start his new job in Saudi Arabia in mid-May. The Daily Racing Form's David Grening was first with the story. Jerkens, the son of Hall of Famer Allen Jerkens, has been around the New York tracks for nearly 50 years. After working for his father as an assistant, he went out on his own in 1997....

Going into Saturday's Saudi Cup meeting at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh, there was approximately one way that this year's results could better the massive success achieved by Japan in 2022. And who better to orchestrate it but trainer Yoshito Yahagi, who has won major races everywhere with the possible exception of Mars, as Hiroo Race Co. Ltd's Panthalassa (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}), one of six top-shelf gallopers signed on from the Land of the Rising Sun and making just the second start of an already successful career on the...

The locally trained American-bred Commissioner King (Commissioner) engaged in a race-long battle with favored US shipper Havnameltdown (Uncaptured) in Saturday's G3 Saudi Derby Cup and proved narrowly best in a war of attrition to scoop the winner's share of the $1.5-million pot. Unraced since defeating Almurtajiz (Good Magic) by four lengths in the Ministry of the National Guard Cup over this course and 1600-meter distance Dec. 16, the $9,000 Keeneland January graduate would not allow Frankie Dettori to steal away on Havnameltdown, last-out winner of the GII San Vicente S.,...

Had the distance for the G3 1351 Turf Sprint Presented By STC been set just a few metres longer, Casa Creed (Jimmy Creed) may well have been recording his second victory in the race for Bill Mott on Saturday, but it was the front-running Bathrat Leon (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}) who clung on from the fast-finishing runner-up to open the floodgates for the Japanese raiders on Saudi Cup night. Trained by Yoshito Yahagi, who would go on to win the Saudi Cup with Panthalassa (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}), Bathrat Leon was...

by Brian Sheerin in Riyadh, Heather Anderson & Alan Carasso Wherever and whenever horses from Japan show up on the world stage, recent history dictates that they are to be taken very seriously. As recently as 12 months ago at the Saudi Cup meeting, horses representing the island nation accounted for four of the evening's six big races, and a month later in yet another desert destination, they somehow managed to one-up themselves with a spectacular five-timer on Dubai World Cup night. The nation has yet--repeat, yet--to break through in...

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...

A field of 13 was drawn Wednesday evening in Riyadh for the $20-million G1 Saudi Cup, to be contested over 1800 meters under the lights Saturday at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in the Saudi capital. Commonwealth Thoroughbreds, WinStar Farm and Zedan Racing's Country Grammer (Tonalist) is back for another tour of the Middle East, having missed by a half-length in this event 12 months ago before landing the G1 Dubai World Cup some 600 miles to the east in Dubai. In stark contrast to 2022, the 6-year-old, who will carry the...