Farough Eyes Fourth Straight Win in Taif Sprint Test
Farough Eyes Sprint Championship Taif
Farough (GB) bids for a fourth consecutive victory in the Sprint Championship over 1200 metres at King Khalid Racecourse on Friday, having added the Sprint Championship Prep to three earlier Riyadh victories. He is ridden by Muhammad Aldaham for trainer Abdullah Alsidrani and owned by Sheikh Abdullah Homoud Almalek Alsabah. The colts and geldings event, sponsored by Medan App, carries SAR250,000 (US$66,667) in prize money and drew nine rivals.
Farough arrived in Saudi Arabia from Roger Varian's Newmarket stable in England nearly 12 months ago and has not looked back since. His run of victories in Riyadh carried straight into his prep assignment for the Sprint Championship, and Aldaham partners him again as he steps up in grade against a field that includes three rivals from that trial.
Reyman (USA), Jasour (USA) and Jaras (IRE) were second, fourth and fifth behind Farough when he won the Sprint Championship Prep on 28 August 2026. Jasour carries the Red Stable silks of Prince Faisal bin Khaled bin Abdulaziz, giving the rematch an added ownership dimension as all three try to close the gap on the gelding in Friday's feature.
Sheikh Abdullah Homoud Almalek Alsabah holds a second runner in the same race through Raakeb (IRE), also trained by Alsidrani. The former UK campaigner won on his local debut but faded down the field in the July 2026 Taif Derby, leaving him to bounce back from that below-par run against Farough and the rest of Friday's field.
White Stable Fields Aez Alkhatir
The White Stable of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz relies on Aez Alkhatir (KSA) in the same contest. The runner-up in the 2025 Sarawat Cup impressed on his Taif debut in the Alhada Cup but managed only fourth in last weekend's JCSA Sprint Cup, his first start for his new connections, leaving him to find improved form back at 1200 metres.
A larger field of 17 fillies has been declared for the Sprint Championship Fillies Open, also worth SAR250,000 (US$66,667) and run at King Khalid Racecourse on Friday. Sheikh Abdullah Homoud Almalek Alsabah is represented by Kawthar (GB), who finished fourth in the Taif Cup Prep, while Salman Alfarraj trains the lightly raced Alnaifh (USA), rated among the leading contenders on figures.
Raaod (USA) lines up as the other principal on ratings, having finished second in the Taif Cup Prep.
Foo De Pine Tops Arabian Feature
The third Friday feature worth SAR250,000 (US$66,667) is the Sprint Championship for Arabian Horses, drawing 15 runners including regulars Jade De Faust (FR) and Baseq And Bake (USA). Alexis Moreno's Foo De Pine (ITA) sits top of the ratings, having beaten both rivals into second and third when winning the Gr.3 Sprint Championship Cup by four lengths in January 2026.
Foo De Pine has since disappointed when last seen in January, but the six-time winner beat the same two opponents by four lengths on that occasion. Jade De Faust and Baseq And Bake both return for another attempt at reversing that form, with both looking to measure up better than they managed in that January defeat, when four lengths separated them from Foo De Pine at the finish.
Saturday's card turns to younger stock with two SAR450,000 (US$120,000) JCSA Contribution races over 1400 metres, restricted to two-year-olds sold at the JCSA's Yearling Sale in 2025. Sheikh Abdullah Homoud Almalek Alsabah again features prominently through Haiyahom (KSA) in the colts and geldings division, after a 20-length success on his sole start in July 2026.
Trankeelo (KSA) is the only other winner among the 13 declared for that race, having taken the July 2026 Taif Cup Prep for Local Breds at the second attempt. The fillies' equivalent draws a full field of 18, headed by Sheikh Abdullah Homoud Almalek Alsabah's second-time-out winner Almalkiah (KSA), who takes her place as the leading contender in the sizeable field on Saturday's card.
Also on Saturday, a separate SAR120,000 (US$32,000) Open over the same course and distance features Muqtahem (IRE), also carrying the Sheikh Abdullah Homoud Almalek Alsabah colours. Muqtahem was third in the Gr.2 Riyadh Dirt Sprint on 14 February 2026 behind Bob Baffert's Imagination (USA) on Saudi Cup weekend, form that marks him out as one of the more experienced runners on the card. He returns to that same grade on Saturday having won a similar contest on 25 July 2026, giving him solid claims of adding to his tally against a field drawn from the Open ranks rather than the JCSA Contribution restriction that applies to the two-year-olds sold at the 2025 Yearling Sale.