TAIF: Commissioner King, last year’s G3 Saudi Derby winner, returns to action on Saturday, Sept. 2, on a high-profile day of racing at King Khalid Racecourse in Taif, which includes two SR1 million ($266,000) Listed contests, the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Cup and the King Faisal Cup for purebred Arabians.
Commissioner King, the FMQ Stables-owned gelding, won three of his four starts last season, culminating in the $1.5 million Saudi Derby, and lines up under regular rider Luis Morales in the 1,600-meter SR500,000 Taif Cup, presented by Boutique Group, one of four valuable Taif Cup races on the day.
Speaking about Commissioner King’s win in the Saudi Derby, owner Faisal Mohammed Al Alqahtani said: “It was a historic night; a night that I’ll never forget.”
Explaining the preparation Commissioner King has had ahead of his seasonal return and the plans for the campaign ahead, he added: “We have a special program for him. He was off for six months and he has been training gradually since the beginning of the Taif season, but to get fully fit he has to race.
“Most horses start their season in allowance races and then go to the cups, but these are regular horses. He’s way above that.
“Saturday’s race is a cup that of course we want to win, but it’s not the target. We’re taking in this race to get him fit before Riyadh. Then we have some cup races planned for him before he goes to the Saudi Cup.
“If you go back to Commissioner King’s debut in Taif, he ran a fabulous race, so I think he loves the track.”
Another of last season’s Saudi Cup winners, Asfan Al Khalediah, who won the G2 Al Mneefah Cup on Saudi Cup weekend and was also the winner of last season’s King Faisal Cup, recently returned this season with a win, and bids to preserve his perfect eight-from-eight career record in the Listed Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Cup over 2,000 meters.
The King Faisal Cup, the other Listed race on the card, offers Athbah Stables the chance to shine with Foo De Pine, a recent transfer to UK-based trainer Phil Collington from the yard’s Saudi stables run by Lucas Gaitan.
A victory for Foo De Pine on Saturday would give Collington his first victory in Saudi Arabia.
Collington said: “I’ve known Lucas since he started training for Athbah and we’ve had a good relationship with horses passing from the UK to Saudi, and vice versa.
“With his owner Prince Abdulaziz bin Ahmed being from Saudi Arabia, he’s obviously keen to have runners in all the big cup races.
“Foo De Pine came to me as a two-year-old from the owner’s stud in France. He was broken-in in the UK last year and then won a race in Belgium this July before he came out to Saudi Arabia.
“He won over 1,200 meters last time out and has a lot of speed. At the moment 1,600 meters would probably be far enough for him.
“We’ve had winners in eight countries now, so to win in Saudi Arabia and Taif would be great. I actually brought a horse out for the King Faisal Cup last season, but unfortunately he didn’t make the race.
“In the last few years, since the Al Mneefah has been added, the program for Arabian horses in Saudi has got so big. The Obaiya and the Al Mneefah are both very important races.”
Saturday’s card also features the 2,000-meter SR700,000 Okaz Cup, where multiple G1-winning US trainer Jimmy Jerkens will be aiming to record his biggest win since moving to train in Saudi Arabia this summer. Jerkens runs Media Storm, a son of Frankel that was formerly trained in France by Andre Fabre.
Other valuable contests on the card include two two-year-old cup races over 1,400 meters, the Taif Cup and Taif Cup presented by Sports Boulevard, both worth SR400,000.
Saudi Cup winners back in action on King Faisal Cup Day
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Saudi Cup winners back in action on King Faisal Cup Day
- Commissioner King and Asfan Al Khalediah on card featuring Taif’s 2 biggest races for purebred Arabians
- A victory for Foo De Pine on Saturday would give Collington his first victory in Saudi Arabia
Beyond the stars: How the Kingdom is shaping the next generation of football
- Ahmed Albahrani: 2022 witnessed a major transformation in Saudi football, particularly in the Roshn League, through the recruitment of star players
- Simon Colosimo: They (Saudi Pro League) have a strategy to compete with the Italian Serie A, the Premier League ... their objective is to be there
RIYADH: As the Kingdom accelerates in a wide range of sectors, the drive to elevate the sports industry constitutes a major part of its overall national development strategies.
From a traditional society to making headlines on the international stage, Saudi Arabia has become one of the best known countries in football recently, becoming a global hub and attracting millions of sports fans to its league.
Major changes are taking place in the country, especially after the announcement last year that Saudi Arabia is to host the FIFA World Cup 2034. Ever since, officials have been dedicated to developing knowledge on football through collaborations with significant football experts, as well as improving local talent, along with building an infrastructure suitable for Saudi ambitions.
“2022 witnessed a major transformation in Saudi football, particularly in the Roshn League, through the recruitment of star players,” Ahmed Albahrani, director of the department of grassroots, academies and regional training center at the Saudi Arabian Football Federation, told Arab News.
“This was undoubtedly part of a specific vision and strategy to develop football in general within Saudi Arabia. This approach involved bringing in star players, hiring coaches, and investing in infrastructure — all contributing factors to this development.
“These are things we are fortunate to have as Saudis, especially in this generation, because we are witnessing qualitative leaps in the development of Saudi football,” he said.
“We in the Saudi Football Federation have begun to see some of its signs, but its (major) signs will be in 2034, especially when we host the World Cup, and our national team will have an honourable level and achieve the leadership’s aspirations.”
In the past, football in the kingdom was exclusive to male talent. Women were excluded from entering stadiums or attending sport events.
Luckily, with the fundamental transformation the country has been going through in recent years, this understanding of women’s contribution in sports vanished.
Progress has been made since 2015, with Saudi women participating internationally as a result of the creation of several sports federations. Saudi women are not only allowed to participate in sports but are encouraged to do so by the Saudi government, and Saudi female national teams have been established, thriving locally and internationally ever since.
In an interview with French female football agent and the founder of HEESSO Sports, Sonia Souid, she shared her excitement, optimistic, and supportive perspectives for women in Saudi sports.
“In 2020, when I first read the news that the Saudi league in football for women had been created, I was shocked. I was amazed because I am from Algeria, and as a Muslim woman, I feel proud of the country, especially coming from the outside, one of the last countries in the Middle East that I thought would be interested in women’s football was Saudi Arabia,” she said.
“It is actually the first one,” she said, as she further explained the investment the Kingdom is putting into women's football when compared with other countries in the region.
“Also, what I have been amazed by from Saudi people, they understood that they had to bring the knowledge from outside in terms of staff, medical staff, and everything around women’s football, and give the opportunities to women and to have a bright future in football and not only in the men’s side,” she said.
Furthermore, to celebrate the importance of football, the World Football Summit was organised in the Saudi capital from Dec. 10-11, bringing together experts, officials in the sports industry and sports enthusiasts to discuss major shifts and opportunities to elevate the Saudi Pro League.
During a panel discussion on leveraging the arrival of elite international players and coaches to accelerate local development, Simon Colosimo, CEO of FPA Saudi Arabia, shared his views on Saudi Arabia’s ambitious strategies for the future of football.
Referring to the Saudi Pro League’s future plans, he said: “They have a strategy to compete with the Italian Serie A, the Premier League ... their objective is to be there.
“When you talk about international players coming into the league, they are only going to improve the players’ capacity to compete at international level.”
