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    • One need go no farther back than 2022, when Emblem Road (Quality Road) charged home to defeat America's Country Grammer (Tonalist) and Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow) in the G1 Saudi Cup, to see that horses trained in the Kingdom of Saudi Cup have managed to make an impression on the meeting, the seventh renewal of which takes place this Saturday at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh. The home team fields a 14-strong challenge across five of the six group-level contests, and while each would have to find on their current form to put a scare into the foreign contingent, the depth of its talent is arguably the best in the history of event and a winner cannot be entirely ruled out. Mhally (GB), a son of the now Canadian-based Sergei Prokofiev, was an excellent third to Golden Vekoma (Vekoma) in last year's G3 Saudi Derby and is one of five Saudi-conditioned runners in the Saudi Cup, having earned his ticket with a 3/4-length defeat of the very talented 4-year-old filly Ameerat Alzamaan (GB) (Ghaiyyath {Ire}) in the G3 Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup (King's Cup) over the course and distance on Jan. 17 (see below). The filly, who made a winning appearance on Saudi Cup Friday last year, has won six of her eight career starts. Rattle N Roll (Connect) won last year's King's Cup en route to a fifth in the main event.     Star of Wonder, a half-brother to GI Kentucky Oaks winner Shedaresthedevil (Daredevil), is one of two Saudi Cup runners for Uncle Mo, along with Bishops Bay. The 5-year-old won four of his six career starts for breeder WinStar Farm and Brad Cox and was third in the 2025 GIII Pimlico Special Stakes before selling to Pedro Lanz on behalf of King Abdullah Bin A/Aziz Sons for $325,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Horses of Racing Age Sale last July. He is perfect in two local appearances to date (see below).     The untimely withdrawal of dual Grade II winner Magnitude (Not This Time) opens the Saudi Cup door for Thundersquall (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), fourth to Mhally in the King's Cup and a latest winner of the Listed King Abdulaziz Racetrack Championship Stakes over 2000 meters on Jan. 30 (video). Haqeet (Arrogate) was a listed winner two back and seventh last time behind Thundersquall. Saudi Arabia is also represented twofold in the Neom Turf Cup, upgraded to Group 1 status and worth $3 million this year, up from $2 million in 2025 when Japan's Shin Emperor (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) made all the running. Bolide Porto (Ire) (Le Havre {Ire}), ninth last year, earned his way back into the 2100-meter contest in the Jan. 16 Listed Prince Khalid Abdullah Cup, just holding off a late rally from the Joel Rosario-ridden 6-year-old mare Direct Security (Ire) (Sioux Nation) (see below), who re-opposes on Saturday with the star Dominican rider back in the irons.     In the form of Muqtahem (Ire) (Soldier's Call {GB}), the locals have arguably their best chance at a victory on the weekend in the G2 Riyadh Dirt Sprint. Since finishing second, just under three lengths behind Straight No Chaser (Speighster) in last year's renewal, the Ballyhane Stud-bred 5-year-old has rattled off five straight dominating scores, the last coming on Jan. 2 (see below) and he had the luxury of skipping trials night four weeks back.     Though he didn't face the starter for the first time until last November, Al Haram (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}) is unbeaten and untested in his three starts going the one-turn mile at King Abdulaziz and has a puncher's chance in the G3 Saudi Derby. A maiden winner at first asking, the bay easily took out a course-and-distance allowance Jan. 3 and returned on two weeks' rest to take the local 2000 Guineas, finishing with a flourish to put 7 1/4 lengths on Tuwajeri (Ire) (Phoenix of Spain {Ire}) (see below). Commissioner King (Commissioner) caused an upset for Saudi Arabia in the 2023 Derby and–now based in the UAE with Bhupat Seemar–is a contender for Dubai World Cup night next month.     Prince Faisal's Zefzaf (Mo Town) is in career form at the age of six and is not without his chances in the G2 1351 Turf Sprint. Purchased for just under €500,000 at the Goffs Dubai Breeze-Up in 2022 after selling for $110,000 at Keeneland the previous September, the dark bay has amassed a record of four wins from six starts on the grass, including a 3/4-length defeat of Love de Vega (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) with Rosario in the saddle in the Turf Sprint Qualifier on Jan. 16 (see below).   The post Local Runners Can Leave Their Mark On Saudi Cup Night appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article
    • RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — The international contenders may have been out in force on Wednesday morning but there is one horse who dominates the spotlight and he has every right to it. Forever Young first set foot on King Abdulaziz racecourse two years ago when he arrived as a three-year-old to take the Saudi Derby before going on to triumph in Duba. He was then involved in an almighty tussle at Churchill Downs, where he went down by the merest of fractions to Mystik Dan and Sierra Leone in the Kentucky Derby. Back he came last year to outdo Hong Kong star Romantic Warrior in an unforgettable Saudi Cup battle but, for all his tenacity on race day, Forever Young is a pussycat in morning track work, purring around the dirt with stable-mate American Stage, unbothered by the large media cohort milling around the backstretch chute.  The son of Real Steel has been here before, after all, and has little left to prove. But among the 20-strong Japanese team present for this year's meeting is a horse who has a growing following which will doubtless multiply should he prevail in Saturday's G3 Saudi Derby. Satono Voyage has been beaten just once in his four starts at home, having finished runner-up on debut before three straight wins at two, culminating in his victory in the Cattleya Stakes on the eve of the Japan Cup. That race, like the Saudi Derby, earns points towards the Kentucky Derby, but Satono Voyage's trainer Hiroyasu Tanaka is not getting carried away with thoughts of being in Louisville on the first Saturday in May just yet. In fact, the horse has not been given a Triple Crown entry, though he could yet be supplemented in April.   Satono Voyage takes to the Riyadh dirt track | Emma Berry   As is so often the case with Japanese trainers, Tanaka is thinking of the long game for Satono Voyage, a horse he considers still to be mentally and physically immature, and who is one of five contenders from Japan for the Saudi Derby. Speaking through translator Toshi Onikubo from the track on Wednesday morning, he said, “I wouldn't bring him without reason, and I have an expectation for him to run well on Saturday. I was concerned about how he would handle being in a different environment and different country, and the international travel, et cetera. But he's handling it well so far, and he breezed well this morning. “To be honest, that is beyond my expectations because he's not that straightforward, but he's handling it very well, so that expands his options for the future.” Satono Voyage was bred by Shimokobe Farm, which is represented in Riyadh by Yukio Shimokobe, one of the speakers at the Asian Racing Conference taking place this week in the build-up to the Saudi Cup. The colt may have a Japanese suffix but, if his trainer can be persuaded, a trip to Kentucky would represent a homecoming of sorts as the Satono Voyage is by Into Mischief and is out of the Drosselmeyer mare Jolie Olimpica, who was runner-up in the GI Jenny Wiley Stakes after winning the GI Gran Premio Jockey Club Brasileiro. Tanaka continued, “Travelling to America from here would be a huge ask for him and I cannot be certain about the race. My original plan is for him to go back to Japan [after Saturday] but in the future her has other top-tier races on the international stage as an option.” A former jockey, whose biggest success in that sphere came when riding Queen Spumante to victory in the GI Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup of 2009, Tanaka has around 100 horses on his books and, as is customary for JRA licensees, has 22 boxes allocated to him at the Miho Training Centre. Alongside Satono Voyage he trains Aloha Alii (Duramente), whose run in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe last October was blighted by heavy ground, though his French sojourn was not wasted as he won the G2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano in the build-up to the Arc. The four-year-old is now in Riyadh and will run in Saturday's newly promoted G1 Neom Turf Cup, in which he will face his compatriot and last year's winner Shin Emperor (Siyouni) as well as the G2 Bahrain International Trophy winner Royal Champion (Shamardal). There is poignancy in the presence of the latter, who is trained by Karl Burke, as his Bahrain triumph represented a final major winner for his owner-breeder Sheikh Mohammed Obaid, who died in late December. “He's fine and he's training well at the moment but it hasn't been straightforward for him,” said Tanaka of Alohi Alii. “He wasn't that fatigued after the Arc but the trip to France was tough for him. We wanted to race him in January in Japan as a prep race but he got a slight setback, and we bypassed that race in coming here. “This race should suit him, including the [fast] ground conditions here in Saudi. The tight bend would be an ask, as he was green, but he's maturing and handling those things better.” Clover All Over the Gulf Perhaps no trainer is better utilising the increasingly expansive and valuable race programme on offer throughout the Middle East at this time of year than Tom Clover, who is set to have runners in Saudi, Qatar, Dubai and Bahrain in the course of the next week. Oh yes, and he has an entry for Wolverhampton, too, but we perhaps won't mention that as Newmarket-based Clover quipped on Wednesday morning how happy he is to “get away from rainy Britain”.   Tom Clover with Martin Kelly | Emma Berry   Lest his colleagues back home think he's just swanning around in the 30-degree heat while they don galoshes amid gales, that is very much not the case as the tall and willowy Clover has been riding trackwork on his RG2 Red Sea Turf Handicap runner Tabletalk. He describes the five-year-old son of Camelot as “an absolute bus of a ride, hence why I ride him every day”, though he is being a little modest as Clover is no mere passenger, as he proved when winning the trainers' race on the Rowley Mile during last September's Newmarket open weekend. “This has been a target for a long time,” he said. “His first three races last year, were really solid runs. He ran a very good race [when sixth of 12] in a deep Hardwicke, as the race always is, and then he slightly lost his way in his last two starts last year. He was still placed in stakes company, but we just felt we hadn't seen the horse we'd seen at home, or previously in the year, so we tweaked a couple of things.” That included the loss of a couple of things, too, as Tabletalk, winner of York's prestigious Melrose Handicap in 2024,  will be running as a gelding for the first time on Saturday.  Clover said, “He's a horse that's going to stay a few miles, we hope. The poor horse has the burden of me riding him every day and certainly he gives me the feel that a good gallop would suit him, but we've got a lot of weight to give away to some lovely horses that are weighted a bit less than us. But we're the second-highest-rated horse in the race, which is a good thing, and he's obviously a high-quality horse, but there are going to be no hiding places, I'm sure, on Saturday.” Of the decision to geld his charge, the trainer added, “It just makes it easier to travel horses and he wasn't going to be a stallion so, having discussed with his owner Mr Mansouri, we thought it would be a good idea.  “He was a strong stayer even as a three-year-old in the Melrose and we always thought a trip to a race like the Red Sea Turf would be a lovely place to target him, so he's been very much trained for this and if he runs very well then you'd have to look at Dubai potentially. I hope that ultimately he can progress into a lovely stayer back in the UK as well on summer ground.” While Clover is on duty in Riyadh, his wife Jackie is in charge of the repeat bid of Rogue Lightning (Kodiac) in Saturday's Dukhan Sprint Cup at Doha's Emir's Sword Festival. “Jackie will be in Qatar and she's very much part of the team,” he said. “She's dropping off our children in Dubai on Thursday and will be overseeing runners in Qatar and Dubai next week, so it all ties in nicely to get away from rainy Britain.”  Alright, Tom, let's not rub it in, but it is jolly nice to have left the wellies at home.   The post Satono Voyage in Quest to Emulate Forever Young in Saudi Derby appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article
    • Mark Casse is among the hottest trainers in America, was recently named Chairman of the Board of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company, and continues to help lead the fight to save racing in South Florida. So, there was plenty to talk about when the Hall of Fame trainer joined this week's TDN Writers' Room Podcast presented by Keeneland. Casse was the Gainesway Guest of the Week. Casse will head into the weekend with 17 wins from 38 starters at Oaklawn, good for a win rate of 45%. He bolstered his Oaklawn total last week, winning the Martha Washington Stakes with Search Party (Gun Runner), the GIII Southwest Stakes with Silent Tactic (Tacitus), and the GIII Bayakoa Stakes with Eclipse Award winner Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro). “I've had bigger days, honestly, but maybe not at one racetrack,” Casse said. “It wasn't last year, it was the previous year. I think we won four or five stakes in one day. So, it happens. But I mean, that was definitely a great weekend, and it's nice when a plan comes together because it seldom does.” Sent off at 12-1, Silent Tactic was the biggest surprise among the Casse stakes winners. He was coming off a second-place finish in the Smarty Jones Stakes, where he was beaten by stablemate Strategic Risk (Noble Bird). In the Southwest, he faced off against that rival once again. “I had a conversation with Mr. [John] Oxley [who owns both Silent Tactic and Strategic Risk] and I said, 'I think Silent Tactic is doing better than Strategic Risk,'” Casse said. “When I got to Oaklawn, I was talking with [jockey] Cristian [Torres] and he told me, 'Silent Tactic is going to be very tough to beat.' He had a lot of confidence in him. I thought his race was really good.” Nitrogen was making her 4-year-old debut in the Bayakoa, and Casse revealed that he almost scratched her because he wasn't sure that she would be ready after having just three works. He described her fitness level at 85%. Considering that she won comfortably despite not being fully ready, what does Casse think of the race now? “I personally thought that may have been the best race she's ever run in her life, given the circumstances,” he said. “I looked at her in the winner's circle and she didn't take a deep breath. She amazes me. She makes me look good, which is not easy to do.” As if training hundreds of horses spread all over the country isn't enough, Casse decided to accept the offer to become the Chairman of the Board of OBS. It was a position his father, Norman, held for 28 years, and the elder Casse is regarded as the one who took OBS from a small regional sales company to one of the powerhouses in the sales industry. “My father's history at OBS, that was a big factor,” he said. “When the OBS Board came to me and asked me if I was interested, at first I thought, I've got so many other things going on. But this is something that was my father's life. It's where I had my first job. My first job was at OBS. I cleaned the manure out of the ring. People know how much I love our business and how hard I work. That's not just for me, but for everybody. I have two young sons that are in the business and I want things to continue to thrive for their sake.” On the Florida front, Casse didn't mince words, saying that he doesn't believe the future of racing in South Florida will involve Gulfstream Park, something he predicted will happen relatively soon. “There's no question in my mind that in the next three to five years, we'll be out of Gulfstream,” he said. “It's impossible for [the horsemen] to stay there. And I think that they don't want us there. So what we have to do is look to the future. There are a lot of things in the works. I think there's a possibility that you could see Hialeah start back. I could see where you could see Tampa possibly having the premier meet or even a possibility that Ocala will end up with a racetrack. We'll see where it goes, but I can assure you, we're not sitting on our hands.” The “Fastest Horse of the Week” was the Louisiana-bred sensation Touchuponastar (Star Guitar), who earned a 106 Beyer when winning the Louisiana Bred Premier Night Championships at Delta Downs for the fourth straight year. The “Fastest Horse of the Week” segment is sponsored by WinStar Farm, which stands the promising sire Heartland. Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by the PHBA, 1/ST TV, the KTOB and West Point Thoroughbreds, Randy Moss and Bill Finley also discussed the ongoing problems in Florida, with both agreeing that the best possible solution for racing in the state would be the revitalization of Hialeah. The two looked back at last week's major preps for the GI Kentucky Derby and the GI Kentucky Oaks and looked ahead to this week's big card at the Fair Grounds, which includes the GII Risen Star Stakes and the GII Rachel Alexandra Stakes. Click here for the audio version of the podcast or here for the video version. The post Mark Casse Joins the TDN Writers’ Room Podcast Presented by Keeneland appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article
    • Easy way to get an edge if you know how and what to look for. Most have no idea. You’d go broke fast following the trackside presenters prelim picks. Absolutely no idea.
    • Tattersalls will extend its sponsorship of the G1 Middle Park Stakes, G1 Cheveley Park Stakes and G2 Royal Lodge Stakes for a further two years after sponsoring the races for the first time in 2025. Taking place on the final day of the Cambridgeshire meeting at Newmarket on Saturday, September 26, the races will be run as the Tattersalls Middle Park Stakes, Tattersalls Sceptre Sessions Cheveley Park Stakes and Tattersalls Online Royal Lodge Stakes. The three races add to an already substantial portfolio of sponsorships for Tattersalls, with other high-profile sponsorships at Newmarket including the G1 Falmouth Stakes, G3 Tattersalls Stakes, £200,000 Tattersalls Somerville Auction Stakes and £200,000 Tattersalls October Auction Stakes. Matthew Prior, Tattersalls managing director, said, “Tattersalls are delighted to extend our sponsorship of the prestigious Middle Park, Cheveley Park and Royal Lodge Stakes on Cambridgeshire day for a further two years and continue our long-standing support of British racing and Newmarket Racecourses. “Cambridgeshire day is a standout fixture in the British racing calendar and we look forward to an outstanding programme of two-year-old races of the highest calibre and to working with Newmarket Racecourses to showcase the event.” Sophie Able, Newmarket Racecourses and International Director at The Jockey Club, added, “The bond between Newmarket Racecourses and Tattersalls has always been strong and in recent years has truly blossomed. We are delighted to announce this new two-year agreement today, which further strengthens and enhances that relationship. “We look forward to working with Tattersalls in promoting high-class racing throughout the season on both the Rowley Mile and July Course.” The post Tattersalls Extend Sponsorship of Middle Park, Cheveley Park and Royal Lodge appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article
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