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| Staff Writer |
The challengers came from Bahrain, Spain, and the Czech Republic but it was the Saudi Arabian-trained Petrus (IRE) who landed the inaugural running of the $500,000 Saudi International Handicap sponsored by Al Rajhi Bank.
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Trained by Fawaz Alghareeba, the 6YO travelled in midfield behind the leading pack headed by Spanish raider Noray (FR), whose pace-setting run weakened on the home turn as What A Welcome (GB) and Rayounpour (IRE) took up the running. Switched wide by jockey Wigberto ‘Wiggy' Ramos, Petrus responded well to his rider's urgings, launching a determined run down the middle of the track to peg back a late charge by Fawzi Nass representative Desert Lion (GB).
Petrus’s fast-finishing effort saw him pass the post two and a quarter lengths clear of that Bahrain-trained rival, with Frankie Dettori’s mount Rayounpour, also from Bahrain but from the stable of Allan Smith, another length and three-quarters back in third.
Victory in the International Handicap, for horses from nations outside Parts One and Two of the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities, is the third win and the most significant to date for Petrus since arriving in Saudi Arabia from Britain, where he was formerly trained by Brian Meehan.
The success on the first day of The Saudi Cup meeting proved extra special for the winning jockey, originally from Panama, who was forced to miss last year’s event with a broken wrist.