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| Staff Writer |
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The 54th and final meeting of Saudi Arabia's Ta'if racing season took place last weekend, marking the end of an impressive season at King Khalid Racecourse.
The grand finale of the season was the King Khalid Racecourse Championship, which concluded a total of 486 races and was hailed as the largest racing season ever held at the racecourse.
At the end of the season, the top jockey, trainer, Thoroughbred owner, and Purebred Arabian owner were all crowned. Camilo Ospina, the retained jockey for King Abdullah Bin Abdullah Aziz Sons, emerged as the leading rider with a strike rate of 17 percent after winning 49 out of his 286 rides. He finished 12 wins ahead of Adel Alfouraidi, a local rider who ended the season with 37 wins.
The leading trainer was Ahmed Mohamoud, who trained a total of 33 winners throughout the season. Some of his notable successes included winning the Ta'if Flower Festival Cup, two JCSA Challenge races, a JCSA Award, as well as the Ta'if Cup presented by Sports Boulevard with filly Taybah Fail.
The victory of the 2YO was a notable achievement for the owners, King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Sons, who emerged as the top Thoroughbred owners of the season with a total of 46 wins.
Meanwhile, Alkhalediah Stables secured the leading position as the owner of Purebred Arabians with 22 winners, surpassing Prince Khalid Bin Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Sons who achieved 15 victories.
Asfan Al Khalediah, the unbeaten Purebred Arabian superstar owned by Alkahlediah Stables, won the Listed Prince Abdullah Alfaisal Cup on 2nd September. The 4YO colt went on to claim victory in the Ta’if Arabian Horses Derby on September 23rd, setting a new track record at King Khalid Racecourse with a winning time of 2:20.30.
Qaswarat Al Khalediah also broke a course record that day, winning the JCSA Award over 1600m in 1:49.52. Meanwhile, Nadem Al Molwk Al Khalediah won the Listed King Faisal Cup later on the same card for owner Prince Khalid Bin Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Sons. Final Destination, a colt formerly trained by Kevin Philippart de Foy in the UK, won the Ta’if Derby on September 22nd after transferring to Thamer Aldaihani's stable.
Sunset Flash, a 7YO daughter of Mayson, was among the imported horses and had an excellent Ta'if season, winning all three starts including the King Khalid Racetrack Championship. Although she finished down the field in the 2023 Saudi Cup, her previous record speaks of her potential.
Meanwhile, Path Of Thunder, an ex-Godolphin horse, had a great start to his career in Saudi Arabia, winning a different division of the King Khalid Racetrack Championship on his fourth start in Ta'if. Another noteworthy addition to the Saudi training scene was Jimmy Jerkens, a multiple Grade 1-winning US trainer. His first runner arrived in July and he secured his first win the following month. By the end of the season, Jerkens had trained six winners out of 36 runners. His most significant victory came in a race for horses that had won 1-3 races on September 23, presented by Altanfeethi and courtesy of Luigi Vampa, a two-time winner in the UK when trained by David Menuisier.
HRH Prince Abdullah Bin Khaled Bin Sultan Bin Abdulaziz, Chairman of the JCSA’s Technical Committee said, “We’re delighted with success of the 2023 Ta’if season, which has seen the continued development and strengthening of racing at King Khalid Racecourse, with more races added and an improved schedule for both Purebred Arabians and Thoroughbreds.
“There have been numerous outstanding performances throughout the season, and on behalf of the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia I thank the continued support of our owners, trainers and horsemen for their hard work over the course of the campaign, as well as of course congratulating all our winners.
“I would also like to thank the Chairman of the Equestrian Authority, and Chairman of the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia HRH Prince Bandar Bin Khalid Al-Faisal for his support and leadership of the sustained development of horse racing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under the directives of our leaders, May Allah Protect them.
“We now focus our attention on the upcoming Riyadh season, which gets underway on October 26 and continues all the way through until March and includes, of course, our marquee event, The Saudi Cup.”