Saudi Racing Reaching New Heights

Domestic Stars And International Visitors Shine Bright

Saudi Arabia's 2025-26 racing season delivered on every promise, with a succession of landmark announcements and on-track performances across a campaign that drew to a breathtaking close on the weekend of February 13 and 14 at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh. From a summer of domestic competition at Taif through to the world's richest race meeting, the Kingdom's racing programme confirmed its status as a global powerhouse, underpinned by two developments that will shape the sport's international landscape for years to come.

Saudi Cup Day: Forever Young Writing History

Saturday's nine-race card at King Abdulaziz Racecourse, hosted against the backdrop of the 41st Asian Racing Conference with delegates from 28 nations present, delivered a programme of sustained international excellence from first race to last. Tahzeem (6YO), trained by Fahad Saad and ridden by two-time Eclipse Award winner Flavien Prat, opened with a narrow head verdict over Ibn Toulon in the US$1.5 million Asian Racing Federation Cup Local Handicap, the Frenchman's tactical mastery making the difference in a desperately tight finish over 1,800 metres.

First Classs, the 9YO Purebred Arabian veteran trained in Dubai by Doug Watson, then stamped his enduring class on the Gr.1 Obaiyah Arabian Classic, drawing clear over 2,000 metres on the dirt to defeat Vizhir by three and a half lengths under Connor Beasley. With career earnings exceeding US$1.6 million from nine victories, the American-bred grey gelding silenced any doubters who had questioned his continued relevance at the top level. Michael Scofield (4YO, trained by Aljenade) gave the White Stable a second weekend winner in the US$1 million Tuwaiq Cup (Listed) under Oisin Murphy, overcoming a field of 18 with authority.

The afternoon then produced its most consequential domestic moment. Al Haram, unbeaten in four career starts, landed the Gr.3 Saudi Derby by a length and a quarter from the American raider Obliteration, trained by Steve Asmussen and ridden by Joel Rosario, earning maximum Kentucky Derby qualifying points on the European and Middle East Road to the Kentucky Derby in its inaugural running. Japan's Satono Voyage, an unbeaten Into Mischief colt trained by Hiroyasu Tanaka, filled third, underlining the global competitive depth of a race now permanently tied to Churchill Downs.

The graded programme then produced successive brilliance from the United States. Imagination (5YO, trained by Bob Baffert) swept aside 12 rivals in the Gr.2 Riyadh Dirt Sprint, extending American dominance in the race with a two-and-three-quarter-length win under Prat from East Coast rival Just Beat The Odds, with locally trained Muqtahem a creditable third. Florida-bred Reef Runner, trained by David Fawkes and produced with a devastating late run by Irad Ortiz Jr, then collared the heavily favoured Group One winner Lazzat, owned by Wathnan Racing and trained by Jerome Reynier, by a neck in the Gr.2 1351 Turf Sprint, becoming the first American-trained winner of the race.

The inaugural Gr.1 Neom Turf Cup brought the Kingdom its most celebrated turf moment to date. The 8YO Royal Champion, trained by Karl Burke in North Yorkshire and ridden with supreme confidence by Murphy, swept clear of ten rivals to win by four and three-quarter lengths from 2024 Dubai Turf hero Facteur Cheval, claiming the US$3 million prize. For Burke and the connections of the late Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum, it represented a defining victory.

Sons And Lovers, trained by Joseph O'Brien and ridden by Dylan Browne McMonagle, completed the turf programme by holding off Tabletalk in a thrilling conclusion to the Gr.2 Red Sea Turf Handicap over 3,000 metres.

The evening's defining moment arrived in the US$20 million Gr.1 Saudi Cup. Forever Young (5YO, by Real Steel, trained by Yoshito Yahagi), making his first start since capturing the Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar, became the first horse in history to win the Saudi Cup twice, holding off Baffert's Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Nysos by a length under Ryusei Sakai in a time of 1:51.027 over 1,800 metres.

Wathnan Racing's Tumbarumba, trained by Hamad Al Jehani, stayed on stoutly for third under James Doyle. With career earnings surpassing US$29 million and an unbeaten Saudi record across three starts, Forever Young left Riyadh as the defining dirt horse of his generation, with the racing world waiting with considerable anticipation to see whether the Dubai World Cup provides one final chapter.

Barzalona Dominates As Kingmaker Retains

Friday's opening card of the Saudi Cup Meeting drew 57 individual Group One or Grade One winners across the weekend's programme, with runners from 22 nations competing for a total purse approaching US$40 million. The International Jockeys' Challenge, pitting seven male riders against seven female riders across four designated races, was won by Mickael Barzalona, the French jockey who had swept through 2025 with victories in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the Japan Cup aboard Calandagan. He claimed three winners across the evening, including a six-length demolition of the IJC Round Three field on Praetorian (IRE), trained by Ahmed Abdulwahed, and a neck success in the finale aboard Year Of The Dragon for trainer Mohammed Alhirabi.

British jockey Saffie Osborne opened the Challenge with a four-and-a-quarter-length victory on the Rizaiq-trained Hay Nebaha, while Italian Nina Baltromei delivered a front-running tour de force in Round Two aboard Abeyyah.

Barzalona also powered Gran Descans, a Juddmonte-bred Frankel colt trained by Saad Aljenade, to a three-and-a-quarter-length success in the US$500,000 Saudi International Handicap over 2,100 metres on turf. The headline event of the evening, the Gr.1 Al Mneefah Cup for Purebred Arabians, produced a pulsating defence from the 7YO RB Kingmaker, trained by Helal and Tahnon Alalawi, whose trademark late surge under Cristian Demuro overcame RB Mary Lylah by half a length to seal back-to-back victories in the US$1.5 million contest.

Summer To Christmas: Domestic Stars Emerging

The domestic season had opened at King Khalid Racecourse in Taif, where Tilal AI Khalediah (KSA), trained by Nasser Mutlaq, demonstrated his authority over the Purebred Arabians with victory in the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Cup (Listed) over 2,000 metres on September 19. The following evening, Motafared (USA), trained by Sultan Bin Jalal for Arab Stable, claimed the National Day Open over 2,400 metres under Fawaz Alshammari.

Crown Prince Cup Night on December 5 produced the season's first major domestic classic result. Wanaameen (KSA), a 3YO trained by Bader Rizaiq and carrying the colours of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Sons, overcame an open market in the domestic Group One over 2,400 metres under Christophe Soumillon, winning by four lengths from stablemate Almaqam to establish himself as the outstanding local classic candidate. Sayyah (USA), trained by Hesham Abdulwahed, collected the Crown Prince Cup (Listed) for the same ownership under Naif Alanazi.

The Royal Cups Weekend on December 26 and 27 further enriched the domestic picture. Thayaf (KSA), trained by Sami Alharabi for Prince Faisal bin Khaled bin Abdulaziz, gave Ricardo Ferreira a dominant performance in the King Abdullah Cup for juveniles over 1,600 metres, while Badr Alsamawi (KSA), trained by Ahmed Abdulwahed, claimed the King Khaled Cup for 3YOs under Fahad Alfouraidi. The King Saud Cup, newly elevated to International Listed status, went to Haqeet (USA), trained by Ahmed Mohamoud, under Muhammad Aldaham.

Trials Weekend on January 17 crystallised the form picture decisively. Wanaameen returned to take a second domestic Group One in the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup under Soumillon, with Thayaf completing a double by landing the King Abdulaziz Cup for 3YOs under Ferreira.

The Gr.3 Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup qualifier for the Saudi Cup itself went to Mhally (GB), trained by Thamer Aldaihani, with the afternoon producing one moment of particular prophecy: an Irish-bred son of Iffraaj named Al Haram, trained by Abdullah Alsidrani, destroyed the Saudi 2000 Guineas field by seven and a quarter lengths to announce himself as the local hope for the Saudi Derby.

Saudi Derby Joining The Road To The Kentucky Derby

In October 2025, the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia and Churchill Downs Incorporated announced the inclusion of the Saudi Derby on the European and Middle East Road to the Kentucky Derby, formally connecting Riyadh's Group Three feature to the Run for the Roses for the first time. The US$1.5 million, 1,600-metre contest was confirmed as offering a maximum of 30 qualifying points to the winner, with further points distributed to the runner-up through fifth.

The series, first established in 2013, awards up to two starting berths to top point-earners on the European and Middle East pathway – a route that also includes the UAE 2000 Guineas and the Dubai Road to the Kentucky Derby Stakes (formerly the Al Bastakiya) at Meydan.

A month later, a second milestone was confirmed: the Neom Turf Cup had been granted Group One status by the Asian Pattern Committee, making it the Kingdom's first top-tier race on turf. The 2,100-metre contest, which had risen through the grades with notable velocity, was subsequently boosted from US$2 million to US$3 million in December, a 50% uplift that brought immediate international attention. The King Saud Cup was simultaneously upgraded to an International Listed Race.
The 2025-26 Saudi Arabian racing season will be remembered as the one in which the Kingdom's ambitions crystallised into undeniable reality.

A domestic programme that produced genuine stars in Wanaameen, Thayaf and Al Haram, combined with structural advances, Group One turf racing, Kentucky Derby qualification, record prize funds and capped by Forever Young's historic double confirmed that Saudi Arabia is no longer merely competing with the world's great racing nations. It is setting the agenda for them.

What makes this season historically significant is not any single result but the coherence of the whole; a campaign in which every element reinforced the next. The announcements of the autumn gave the domestic programme a new sense of international purpose; the domestic programme produced the horses and rivalries that gave the Saudi Cup weekend its narrative weight; and the Saudi Cup weekend itself delivered the kind of racing that justifies ambition on this scale. When Forever Young crossed the line for the second time, he did not merely win a race. He marked a moment.