Saudi Arabia

Shisospicy (Mitole), the champion female sprinter of 2025 and GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint heroine, has recovered from infection that forced her to skip last weekend's planned trip to Saudi Arabia. "Shisospicy, she's perfect now," trainer Jose D'Angelo said of the 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard.' "I don't think that we have enough time to prepare in the way that we would like to go to Dubai, so we are on standby with her." Last year's GI Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Bentornato (Valiant Minister), meanwhile, is on schedule to...

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- Darkness had long fallen over Riyadh but one star lit up the night sky as Forever Young (Real Steel) galloped into the history books as the first dual winner of the $20m G1 Saudi Cup. Last year he was forced to stalk Romantic Warrior all along the stretch for glory, but this time the tables were turned, with Nysos (Nyquist) locking sights on his prey in a determined effort to give Bob Baffert a longed-for victory in the world's richest race. Instead it once more went...

The 2026 Asian Racing Conference has ended in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The next host for the ARC is New Zealand. Organised by the Asian Racing Federation and hosted by the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia, a three-day business programme wrapped up on Thursday. The closing ceremony was a celebration of Saudi Arabia's love of horses with a laser display creating the effect of horses galloping around the delegates at the venue. HRH Prince Bandar bin Khalid Alfaisal, the chairman of the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia, formally opened proceedings on...

Doug O'Neill is among a relatively small group of American-based trainers that readily seeks opportunities to travel horses to major overseas meetings. As recently as 2025, the California-based conditioner won the G2 Godolphin Mile for a third time with Raging Torrent (Maximus Mischief), and the barn is set to be represented in two of the six group-level contests on Saudi Cup night Feb. 14. Purple Rein Racing and Mark Davis's Acknowledgemeplz (Bucchero) has been invited to the G3 Saudi Derby and the Florida-bred tuned up for the 1600-meter contest with...

The Eclipse-Award winning female sprinter Shisospicy (Mitole) spiked a fever following a recent workout, which will cause her to miss the G2 1351 Turf Sprint scheduled for Feb. 14 in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Arabian race was supposed to kick off her 2026 campaign, and Shisospicy was scheduled to leave for there on Feb. 2. The Blood-Horse was the first to report the story. "She spiked a little bit of a fever," said Rich Mendez, who heads the Morplay Racing partnership that owns the 4-year-old filly. "If you look at...

A day after sending out Derby runner-up Ambiente Friendly to win over hurdles at Huntingdon, trainer James Owen has advised of a return to the Flat for another of his dual-purpose campaigners, Burdett Road. The five year-old son of Muharaar was bred and is raced by the Gredley Family, for whom he has already won at Royal Ascot as well as landing two Graded hurdle races at Cheltenham. He has been placed twice this National Hunt season but now looks set for warmer climes. "He is going to Dubai just...

A day after the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale closed with new records in the average and median prices, there were more headlines made Wednesday afternoon when recent GIII Forty Niner Stakes winner Bishops Bay (Uncle Mo--Catch My Drift, by Pioneerof the Nile) was knocked down to bloodstock agent Pedro Lanz, agent for Saudi Arabia's KAS Stables, for a record $1.3 million in the first 30 minutes of trade during the auction house's standalone Horses of Racing Age Sale. The previous Keeneland HORA Sale record was the $1 million paid...

BISHOPS BAY (h, 5, Uncle Mo--Catch My Drift, by Pioneerof the Nile), a latest winner of Aqueduct's GIII Forty Niner Stakes, was knocked down to bloodstock agent Pedro Lanz, agent for Saudi Arabia's KAZ Stables, for a record $1.3 million in the first 30 minutes of trade during Wednesday's Keeneland Horses of Racing Age Sale. He was consigned by Elite Sales, agent. Bred by WinStar Farm and sold for $450,000 as a Keeneland September yearling in 2021, the bay was trained by Brad Cox for a partnership headed by Spendthrift...

With reporting 85-90% complete for the 2024 season, 1,099 stallions covered 27,180 mares in North America which resulted in 17,103 live foals in 2025, The Jockey Club announced Tuesday. The reporting of live foals of 2025 is down 3.4% from last year at this time when The Jockey Club had received reports for 17,700 live foals of 2024. In addition to the 17,103 live foals of 2025 reported through Oct. 13, The Jockey Club also received 1,887 No Foal Reports for the 2025 foaling season. Ultimately, the 2025 registered foal...

Godolphin's Group 1 scorer Tornado Alert (Too Darn Hot) will be freshened for the rest of the summer with the G2 Bahrain International Trophy in November penciled in as a long-term target, according to trainer Saeed bin Suroor. A winner at two, the son of Bint Almatar (Kingmambo) ran fourth in the G1 2000 Guineas in May and was sixth to Lambourn (Australia) in the G1 Derby at Epsom in June. Wheeled back in the G3 Hampton Court Stakes at Royal Ascot, the bay was second that day. He was...

Trainer Jimmy Jerkens, a long-time New York based trainer before embarking on a two-year stint in Saudi Arabia, will oversee a fledgling New York-based string for Kenny McPeek, according to the Kentucky-based conditioner who announced the collaboration on X Sunday afternoon. "Jimmy Jerkens is going to be anchoring a New York division for me, starting this week," confirmed McPeek. He explained, "I am based in Kentucky, and I have family here and my history has been with yearlings, working yearling sales, I have been fortunate enough to build my racing...

RIYADH, KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA -- For the second time in the last three runnings, America's reigning champion sprinter dominated in the desert, as MyRacehorse's Straight No Chaser (Speightster) asserted in the final furlong to prove a much-the-best winner of the Riyadh Dirt Sprint. The 1200-meter dash was upgraded to Group 2 status for the first time, had its purse hiked to $2 million and just this past Friday was named a 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint. Champion Elite Power (Curlin) won the 2023...