The Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia announced the return of the world’s richest horse race, the Saudi Cup, as well as a prize money increase and a new international race, all scheduled to take place on February 19-20.
Scheduled a week earlier than the inaugural event, the free to enter – free to run 1800m $20m Saudi Cup remains the highlight of an eight-race card, which now features a boost to the prize money of three dirt races on the undercard.
As well as raising the profile of Saudi Arabia as a racing and sporting venue, the event successfully introduced the country’s first turf track, a surface acclaimed by jockeys and trainers, and celebrated the first female jockeys not only to ever ride under rules in the country, but also to win races.
The 1600m Saudi Derby sees an increase from $800,000 to $1.5m. The Obaiya Cup for Purebred Arabians held over 2000m will now be worth $2m, up from $1.9m while the purse for The Jockey Club Local Handicap will double to $1m up from $500,000.
At a series of press events held via video link from King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh, HRH Prince Bandar Bin Khalid Al Faisal, Chairman of the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia, was keen to build on the success of 2020 edition.
“It’s hard to overstate the success of Saudi Cup when you consider that in year one of a brand-new international racing event, we attracted some of the very best horses, trainers and jockeys in the world,” he said.
“We witnessed 22 individual Group or Grade 1 winners, who had accumulated an impressive 34 wins at that level between them. That would be an excellent statistic for even the most well-established race meetings in the world, let alone to have that calibre in year one.”
The International Jockeys Challenge, held the Friday before Saudi Cup, will once again see 14 of the world’s best jockeys, seven women, five international men and two Saudi-based jockeys, compete for a championship purse of $100,000 and 15 per cent of prize money.
Lisa Allpress became the first woman to win a race in Saudi Arabia in 2020 when the four-time New Zealand champion claimed the opening leg of the challenge.
Each of the four legs of the Jockeys Challenge are again worth $400,000 in prize money and contested on the dirt track.
In 2020 the Saudi Cup card saw 64 foreign runners, representing ten different countries, take on 26 locally trained rivals in the seven international races. Five of these races witnessed overseas victories.
Providing added interest and additional international flavour the $500,000 Saudi International Handicap will be held over 2,100m of the turf track.
Horses must be trained in a country which is not included among the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities’ Part I nations, subject to quarantine protocols being in place and must have had at least one run in their trainer’s country prior to entry.
Locally trained horses must have had a least one run in Saudi Arabia by February 1, 2021.
“With the changes we bring to Saudi Cup 2021 we hope to offer the racing and sporting public the most interesting and intriguing race cards possible, whether they are able to be with us in person or watching from home,” said Prince Bandar.
“The 2020 event was a great beginning but now we turn our attention to year two and to take on board the lessons we learned from year one. We will be using that knowledge to steer the JCSA and the Saudi Cup weekend to new heights, building regional and international bridges within the industry to engage with global racing fans, inspire domestic involvement and enhance not only our own offering but that of racing as a global sport.”
