Rose of Riyadh Fights Through Trouble for Debut Win
Rose of Riyadh Grinds Out Maiden Win
Rose of Riyadh, a 2YO filly by Yaupon out of I Love Shopping, won her career debut in the sixth race at Gulfstream Park on Sunday, 20 September 2026, defeating male rivals by half a length in a field contested over 6 furlongs. She broke well but was squeezed on both sides at the start, dropping to the rear before working through traffic on the turn to take command in the stretch and hold gamely to the line.
The Msw event was run in 1:12.08 on a fast track and carried a purse of US$48,610. Rose of Riyadh is trained by Tareq Moubarak and owned by the Saudi Arabia-based Alwaleed Thamer Alosaimi International Stables, and was bred in Kentucky by Ballyfair Farm. The result lifted her Lifetime Record to 1-1-0-0, with earnings of US$25,800.
The run was not straightforward. Rose of Riyadh absorbed contact from both sides soon after leaving the gate and had to settle at the back of the field down the backstretch. Approaching the turn she found herself boxed in behind a wall of rivals, and more traffic forced her to check her stride passing the quarter pole before a gap opened that let her advance.
Once clear, she made up the deficit quickly, angling to the front at the top of the stretch. One of her rivals tried to fight back through the final furlong, and Rose of Riyadh had to dig in to repel that challenge, ultimately prevailing by half a length at the wire to graduate from the maiden condition on her first attempt.
Yaupon Filly Joins Deep Female Line
Rose of Riyadh was bought for US$225,000 as a yearling at the Keeneland September Sale in 2025, having previously sold as a weanling for US$60,000 at the Keeneland November Sale in 2024. She is out of I Love Shopping, a daughter of Violence who has produced three foals to race and seen all three reach the winner's circle.
Her half-brother Zuby, a son of Vekoma, is a stakes-placed performer from the same female family and now stands at Spendthrift Farm. I Love Shopping also has a yearling colt by Complexity entered for the ongoing 2026 Keeneland September Sale as Hip 3111, and the mare herself was bred to Tiz the Law for a 2027 foal.
The family runs deeper still. I Love Shopping is a half-sister to the multiple graded stakes winner Imprimis, by Broken Vow, who won the Gr.2 Shakertown Stakes and Gr.3 Runhappy Turf Sprint before retiring with nine wins from 21 starts and US$883,483 in earnings. The second dam is a half-sister to the dams of stakes winners Shoplifted and Fifth Avenue, tracing back to the family of Group One winner Miss Shop and her stakes-winning daughter Tin Type Gal.
Moubarak and Yaupon Both in Form
Tareq Moubarak has sent out four winners from his last five starters at Gulfstream Park, a run that continued a day earlier when the juvenile Reza rolled clear to win by eight lengths on 19 September 2026. Moubarak, Lebanese-born, returned to train at Gulfstream Park in 2022 after an absence dating back to 2007, having previously enjoyed graded stakes success in South Florida.
His other recent maiden winner came on 12 September 2026, when the 2YO colt Arabian Crown, a son of Good Magic, graduated by a neck. Between Reza, Arabian Crown and now Rose of Riyadh, the barn has produced contrasting styles of winning maiden performance inside a fortnight, from wide-margin scores to gritty renewals, a spread of results that speaks to depth across Moubarak's current string rather than any single pattern of running.
Rose of Riyadh is among the earliest runners for her sire, Yaupon, a son of Uncle Mo who retired with six wins from eight starts, including the Gr.1 Forego Stakes, the Gr.2 Amsterdam and the Gr.3 Chick Lang, before an injury sustained training for the Breeders' Cup ended his career. Yaupon topped the freshman sire list in 2025 and now stands the 2026 season at Spendthrift Farm for a fee of US$60,000, up from US$25,000 the previous year.