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    • Submissions to participate in the Kentucky Oaks Survivors Parade May 1 are open now through Mar. 3. This year's Survivors Parade will honor 150 Breast and Ovarian cancer survivors and fighters with tickets for the selected recipient and a guest to attend the Kentucky Oaks and to participate in a march on the Churchill Downs track. Those who have overcome or are battling a breast or ovarian cancer diagnosis who have never participated in the Oaks Survivors Parade can submit their stories here. Participants will be chosen randomly and will be announced Mar. 6. Churchill Downs will feature and support Derby Divas through the Norton Cancer Institute Breast Health Program and Horses and Hope through Kentucky Cancer Program at its 18th Survivors Parade. Both organizations provide critical services that help deliver care to underserved women across the region. The Kentucky Oaks charitable initiative has raised more than $1 million to drive breast and ovarian health awareness and life-saving interventions since its inception. Fans can help the effort to raise money to support breast and ovarian health by donating to the Kentucky Oaks charitable partners at www.kentuckyderby.com/survivors. Submissions to participate in the Kentucky Oaks Survivors Parade May 1 are open now through Mar. 3. This year's Survivors Parade will honor 150 Breast and Ovarian cancer survivors and fighters with tickets for the selected recipient and a guest to attend the Kentucky Oaks and to participate in a march on the Churchill Downs track. Those who have overcome or are battling a breast or ovarian cancer diagnosis who have never participated in the Oaks Survivors Parade can submit their stories here. Participants will be chosen randomly and will be announced Mar. 6. Churchill Downs will feature and support Derby Divas through the Norton Cancer Institute Breast Health Program and Horses and Hope through Kentucky Cancer Program at its 18th Survivors Parade. Both organizations provide critical services that help deliver care to underserved women across the region. The Kentucky Oaks charitable initiative has raised more than $1 million to drive breast and ovarian health awareness and life-saving interventions since its inception. Fans can help the effort to raise money to support breast and ovarian health by donating to the Kentucky Oaks charitable partners at www.kentuckyderby.com/survivors. The post Submissions Open for Kentucky Oaks Survivors Parade appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article
    • Cristian Torres is Jockey of the Week after victories aboard Silent Tactic in the Southwest Stakes (G3) and Search Party in the Martha Washington Stakes for trainer Mark Casse. View the full article
    • Jerry Chau Chun-lok continued his remarkable run of form with a treble at Happy Valley on Wednesday night that propelled him into pole position in the Tony Cruz Award and fourth in the jockeys’ premiership standings. The 25-year-old made it eight wins from the last four meetings, propelling his strike rate in February to an astonishing 32 per cent, with his win on Flying Wrote having all the poise of a man riding with supreme confidence. The pair were unsurprisingly backed into $2.3 favourite...View the full article
    • 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
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