Saudi Cup

by Alan Carasso Making his first afternoon appearance on the dirt at career start number seven, Pink Kamehameha (Jpn) (Leontes {Jpn}) provided his home country and trainer Hideyuki Mori with a second victory in as many runnings in the Al Rajhi Bank Saudi Derby at King Abdulaziz Racecourse Saturday. Cowan (Kantharos) made up a stack of ground after blowing the break to just miss and won a photo for second from New Treasure (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}). Full Flat (Speightstown) won for Japan last year. When entries were taken Saturday,...

The $20-million Saudi Cup had been billed as a showdown between the brilliant American Grade I winners Charlatan (Speightstown) and Knicks Go (Paynter), but when the dust settled on the world's richest horse race it was the John Gosden-trained, Prince Faisal homebred Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) who stole the show to a raucous reception in his owner/breeders homeland. Breaking smartly from gate 12 under 21-year-old jockey David Egan, the G1 Prix du Jockey Club winner Mishriff-who also ventured to Riyadh to finish second in the Saudi Derby on this...

Interviewed on the world feed coverage of the Saudi Cup, Prince Bandar Bin Khalid Al Faisal, chairman of the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia, said that he expected there to be "movement" on the U.S. case against Jason Servis which had been holding up the payment of last year's Saudi Cup purse. Servis was the trainer of 2020's inaugural winner of the Saudi Cup, Maximum Security (New Year's Day), who has never been awarded prize money for the victory. Two weeks after the race, Servis was one of 27 people...

There was little in Gifts Of Gold (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire})'s recent form to suggest that a win against top marathoners was on the cards, but a surface switch and the addition of cheekpieces as well as a few furlongs proved just the tonic for the Saeed bin Suroor-trained 6-year-old gelding to score an upset victory in the $2.5-million 3000 metre Red Sea Turf H. in Saudi Arabia on Saturday. Settling about two lengths off the moderate early tempo set by the defending champ and Group 1-winning stayer Call The...

The favourite and headline act Channel Maker (English Channel) may have been upset in the card-opening Neom Turf Cup, but that was not the case 35 minutes later, with last year's G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest victor Space Blues (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) obliging at short odds for Godolphin and trainer Charlie Appleby. Stalking the pace just off the fence, Space Blues and William Buick sat on the heels of last year's winner Dark Power (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) down the backstretch. Space Blues had about three lengths to make up...

A winner over hurdles in Ireland, a multiple listed winner on the flat in the UK, a dual Group 3 winner in Australia and now a winner in Saudi Arabia: True Self (Ire) (Oscar {Ire}) has nearly done it all, and at age eight she appeared at the peak of her powers on Saturday when overhauling America's reigning champion turf horse Channel Maker (English Channel) in a beautifully executed ride by Hollie Doyle to win the $1-million Neom Turf Cup in Riyadh. Dropping back to race midpack as the field...

Irish jockey Shane Foley took top honours in the stc International Jockeys Challenge in Riyadh in Friday after winning two of the four races comprising the contest, which set the stage for Saturday's card that includes the $20-million Saudi Cup. Foley beat just three home in the opening leg of the challenge, which was won by Mike Smith, who was deputizing for jockey John Velazquez whose trip to Saudi was dashed on account of travel-related issues. Foley turned things around in the next race, however, navigating Emblem Star (Take Charge...

"Build it, and they will come." Such is the familiar philosophy sustaining the dramatic--sometimes melodramatic--changes in the desert landscape, both physical and metaphorical, over the past generation. Certainly those who first visited Dubai during the early years of its ruling family's commitment to our sport were annually bewildered by the exponential transformation of a cluster of creekside souks and wharves into a teeming, space-age skyline of gleaming towers. Even so, it was still staggering last year to see the Saudis stage a card featuring the richest race in history just...

The first three home in last year's Red Sea Turf Handicap have all returned to Riyadh for this $2.5 million staying contest over 3,000 metres. The trio is led by the George Strawbridge homebred Call The Wind (GB) (Frankel {GB}), whose victory over Mekong (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and Prince Of Arran (GB) (Shirocco {Ger}) was followed through the French summer with wins in the G3 Prix de Barbeville and G2 Prix Kergorlay.  Freddy Head, who arrived in Saudi in time to see the 7-year-old have an easy canter on Thursday...

Several major shifts in riding assignments were underway Friday morning after Umberto Rispoli and John Velazquez were not allowed to fly to Saudi Arabia due to a mixup in flight arrangements Wednesday and problems with COVID-19 restrictions Thursday. Ron Anderson, the agent for Velazquez and Rosario, said that Mickael Barzalona would ride Max Player (Honor Code), that William Buick would be aboard Tacitus (Tapit) in the Saudi Cup, and that Joel Rosario would ride New York Central (Tapit) in defense of his title in the Riyadh Dirt Sprint. In the...

FS1 will carry Saturday's $20-million Saudi Cup, featuring a clash between GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. winner Knicks Go (Paynter) and 'TDN Rising Star' and GI Runhappy Malibu S. hero Charlatan (Speightstown), during a live one-hour broadcast from 12-1 p.m. ET. The undercard races, with the exception of the Neom Turf Cup, will be shown live on FS2 from 8:30 a.m. ET to noon ET. A live internet feed will be available here. The 'Golden Hour' telecast will be hosted on site by...

There's plenty to talk about in racing these days, and NTRA CEO Alex Waldrop joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland Wednesday morning to dig into a good deal of the sport's most pressing topics. Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Waldrop talked about how to capitalize and sustain the positive handle trends of the past year, how to pay for the groundbreaking Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act, what movement he expects on H-2B visas with a new administration and more. "Looking back...