Saudi Arabia

Listed winner Missed The Cut (Quality Road) is pleasing trainer George Boughey in advance of a try in the G3 Neom Turf Cup on the G1 Saudi Cup undercard on Saturday. "He has come a long way in a short space of time," said the trainer, who saw the son of Quality Road breeze on the Riyadh track ahead of the extended 10-furlong test on Saturday. "There was a rapid rise through the summer last year, possibly too much too soon when we took him out to France for a...

Jockey Oisin Murphy will have a classy horse to look forward to when his 14-month suspension comes to a close on February 16 with trainer George Boughey confirming that Missed The Cut (Quality Road), on course for a tilt at the G3 Neom Turf Cup in Saudi Arabia on February 25, will be partnered by the Irish man.  Murphy was banned for breaking Covid rules, misleading the regulator and prejudicial conduct, plus two alcohol breaches. However, Boughey has explained that the rider has been busy putting in the groundwork with...

A little less than five months after Emblem Road caused a massive upset in the $20-million G1 Saudi Cup last February, agents for that horse's owner HRH Prince Saud bin Salman Abdulaziz went shopping for another son of Quality Road at the Fasig-Tipton July Horses of Racing Age Sale. They landed on Scotland Yard, placed three times in maiden company from four starts for WinStar Farm and Siena Farm and Steve Asmussen and offered through the WinStar Racing consignment. Acquired for $255,000 with a race like the Saudi Cup the...

by Alan Carasso Sent off the betting favourite in international markets on the strength of his form at home, Dancing Prince (Jpn) (Pas de Trois {Jpn}) made all the running beneath a white-hot Christophe Lemaire to give both the country and rider a fourth victory on the Saudi Cup undercard in the G3 Riyadh Sprint. Soon in front from a favourable draw, the last-out winner of the G3 Capella S. at Nakayama in December, showed the way in advance of longshots Beehive (GB) (Fountain of Youth {Ire}) and Rudy Trigger...

The Saudi Derby had been won by horses based in Japan in each of its first two runnings and the island nation swept the first three races on Saturday's Saudi Cup undercard. Given a positive ride by Flavien Prat over a racing surface that seemed kind to front-runners, Pinehurst (Twirling Candy) had his full battling qualities on display and withstood a late charge from Sekifu (Jpn) (Henny Hughes) to register a half-length success in the $1.5-million test, upgraded to Group 3 level for the first time in 2022. Off to...

One of the greatest riders in the history of the Australian turf, Glen Boss, officially brought the curtain down on his illustrious career with a final victory aboard Raeed (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) in the second of four legs of Friday's stc International Jockey Challenge at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh. But the veteran reinsman was outdone by his South Australia-based compatriot Caitlin Jones, with the pair finishing first and third. For her efforts, Jones earned first-place prizemoney of US$100,000. Jones, who calls Morphettville in Adelaide home, has been riding...

A full and eclectic field of 18 older gallopers is set to face the starter for Thursday's SAR1.5-million (£295,933/€354,288/US$400,000) Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup (King's Cup) going the metric 10 furlongs at King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Riyadh, offering the winner a guaranteed spot in the field for the US$20-million G1 Saudi Cup Feb. 26. The King's Cup marks the Saudi debut for American-bred Saiydabad (Blame), a close fourth behind St Mark's Basilica (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) in last year's G1 Qatar Prix du Jockey Club and winner of the...

Leading jockey Jose Ortiz rode four races Friday on the first of a two-day stint at King Abdulaziz Racetrack in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, and was able to boot home the winner of one of the program's feature races, guiding the U.S.-bred 6-year-old mare Avalina (Tale of Ekati) to a 3 3/4-length success in the $186,667 Prince Sultan Ben A/Aziz Cup over the metric 10 furlongs. Bred in Kentucky by Charles Fipke, Avalina won three of her first four career starts for owner John O'Hara and trainer Danny Gargan,...

Group 1 winner Pyledriver (GB) (Harbour Watch {Ire}) will return in the Betway Churchill S. at Lingfield next weekend before an intended start in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Vase in December. The 4-year-old, who claimed the G2 King Edward VII S. and G2 Great Voltigeur S. at three, had an abbreviated two-start campaign this season. Second by 2 1/4 length in the G2 Jockey Club S. at Newmarket making his 4-year-old bow, Pyledriver clawed his way to a neck victory in Epsom's G1 Coronation Cup over Al Aasy (Ire)...

Saudi Arabia's $20-million Saudi Cup has been awarded Group 1 status beginning in 2022 it was announced during Monday's virtual meeting of the Executive Council of the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA). The move follows the promotion of both Saudi Arabia and Bahrain from Part III to Part II of the ICS Book by the International Grading and Race Planning Advisory Committee (IRPAC). In addition, the Neom Turf Cup, Saudi Derby, STC 1,351 Turf Sprint, Riyadh Dirt Sprint and Red Sea Turf, as well as Bahrain's Bahrain International Trophy...

Group 1 winner Oxted (GB) (Mayson {GB}) is aiming to defend his title in the Apr. 15 G3 Abernant S. at Newmarket, trainer Roger Teal revealed on Monday. Oxted, who won the G1 July Cup S., was unplaced in the Riyadh Dirt Sprint on dirt in Saudi Arabia on Feb. 20. An alternative option for the gelding is the G2 Duke of York S. if the ground is too quick at Newmarket. Teal said, "At the moment the plan is to go to Newmarket as long as the ground is...

by Alan Carasso One of three Japanese raiders, Copano Kicking (Spring At Last) came with a stinging final-furlong rally in Saturday's Saudi Arabian Airlines Riyadh Dirt Sprint and was up on the wire to defeat Matera Sky (Speightstown), who dropped a similarly gut-wrenching decision to New York Central (Tapit) in the inaugural running of the event in 2020. The locally based Faz Zae (KSA) (Mizzen Mast) finished best of the rest. The fleet-footed Matera Sky jumped straight into the bridle from gate one and led along the inside, as recent...