Saudi Arabia

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...

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...