Prince Bandar

A total of 1,123 entries, including 81 Group or Grade I winners from no fewer than 21 racing jurisdictions from all over the world were received for the 2025 Saudi Cup meeting, to be held Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21 and 22 and King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh. The entries were released Friday by the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia (JCSA). (See TDN Europe for the entries to the meeting's turf events) Some $38.1 million in prize money will be on offer over the course of the weekend, headed up...

Fourteen world-class jockeys from eight jurisdictions around the world will participate in the International Jockeys' Challenge to be held on the eve of the Saudi Cup meeting at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh Friday, Feb. 23. A team of seven male riders will compete against seven of their female counterparts in the four-race series. Ryan Moore will feature in the Jockeys' Challenge for the first time in its brief history. The veteran reinsman, who was recognized as the Longines World's Best Jockey in Hong Kong last December, is one of...

Equine MediRecord, a Kildare-based software platform, has secured a long-term contract with the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia (JCSA). An Irish trade delegation traveled to the JCSA to announce the news. The platform will support the $20-million G1 Saudi Cup, which was elevated to Group 1 status for the first time in 2022. The Equine MediRecord platform allows for the full veterinary history of the horse to be recorded securely, ensuring the best possible horse welfare, as well as aiding with crucial anti-doping procedures. In addition, the platform will provide...

In addition to the previously announced allocation of Group 1 status to the $20-million Saudi Cup and Group 3 status to five undercard Thoroughbred races, the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia revealed in a press conference on Thursday some key purse increases for undercard races. The 2022 Saudi Cup meeting, which will take place on Feb. 25 and 26, will be worth $35.1-million, making it the world's richest race meeting. Prizemoney for the G3 Neom Turf Cup and the G3 1351 Turf Sprint have each been boosted by $500,000, and...

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...

In a press briefing held Tuesday, The Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia (JCSA) announced that the 2021 running of the $20-million Saudi Cup will be held Feb. 20, one week earlier than the date for the inaugural edition of the world's richest race. The announcement was made by HRH Prince Bandar Bin Khalid Al Faisal, Chairman of the JCSA, who, during a question-and-answer session with the media, also addressed the unresolved situation concerning Maximum Security (New Year's Day) and his former trainer Jason Servis. Shortly after Maximum Security crossed the...

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - When Prince Bandar bin Khalid Al Faisal, the chairman of the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia, first started talking publicly last summer about creating the world's richest horse race, King Abdulaziz Racetrack didn't even have a turf course. Half a year later, the Riyadh oval is poised to host a world-class day of racing. Saturday's card is highlighted by the $20-million Saudi Cup, but also includes the $2.5-million Longines Turf H., $1.5-million Saudia Sprint, $1-million Mohamed Yousef Naghi Motors Cup, and $1-million STC 1351 Turf Sprint....