RIYADH: Proven on the global level multiple times and regarded as one of the top trainers among the younger generation, Frenchman Jerome Reynier brings a premier pair of chances into the world’s richest race meeting, the $39.6 million Saudi Cup, spearheaded by Lazzat (FR) in the Group 2 1351 Turf Sprint.
The Marseille-based conditioner hopes to improve on his first two Saudi Cup meeting attempts on Saturday week with Royal Ascot winner Lazzat and Facteur Cheval (IRE), who reverts to grass in the G1 Neom Turf Cup, presented by Howden after running seventh in last year’s dirt feature. Reynier had previously achieved a 12th place finish in the 2022 Saudi Derby with Jacinda.
The Wathnan Racing-owned Lazzat is a winner of eight from 14 starts and the son of Territories was last seen at Ascot in October when pipped into second in the G1 British Champions Sprint.
A top-level winner as a three-year-old, with victory in the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest over 1,300 meters, and as a four-year-old in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes over 1,200 meters at Royal Ascot, he looks to begin his season properly.
“He’s in great shape and we feel it’s a perfect race for him,” Reynier said. “I think this is a tricky trip for some horses, but for him, it isn’t. The distance of the 1,351 meters is quite ideal and I’ve always had this race in the back of my mind.
“He had a really good racecourse gallop to prepare, so all the lights are green and we can’t wait to be there with him. I’m fairly sure he will be able to adapt himself to these conditions. He’s been winning over right-handed, left-handed and straight courses on good, firm and heavy ground. He’s just very versatile.
“The draw is quite important because if you draw wide, it gives you that much more of a challenge and I’d like to be down closer to the rail,” Reynier continued. “Our horse breaks well, though, so hopefully he can put himself into a good position. James Doyle will ride.”
This will be the second time Lazzat travels outside of Europe, having finished a strong second in Rosehill’s Golden Eagle in Australia in November 2024, and then five weeks later a close ninth in Sha Tin’s G1 Hong Kong Mile.
“In Australia they went really fast and he got challenged too early and almost made it, but the 1,500 meters — with so much pressure on him — he found it a bit too long,” Reynier explained.
“In Hong Kong we didn’t have much chance with him. They went too slow and Cristian (Demuro) didn’t know him well, so everything went wrong. Despite that he ran a very good race, being a 3-year-old in December going against older horses but he’s a better horse now as a 5-year-old.”
Facteur Cheval, a winner of the 2024 G1 Dubai Turf for Team Valor International and Gary Barber, has not been seen since finishing a six-length ninth in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot on Oct. 18 — a race he had finished second in its previous two events.
He will be racing beyond 2,000 meters for the first time in his career when he attempts the 2,100 meters of the Neom Turf Cup.
“The Queen Elizabeth was very tricky,” Reynier said. “We were behind the favorite (Field of Gold IRE) and we thought we were traveling well, but the ground was a bit tricky that day.
“That said, I can’t be complaining that the horse didn’t run well — he just had some bad luck and he’s always running on. Even when he won the Dubai Turf, he ran out beyond the post and before that when Namur (JPN) came out alongside him, he was fighting back and never gave up.
“The Neom is a good race for him. He’s been running over longer distances than the 1,800 meters, having had a run in the (G1) Prince of Wales’s last year at Royal Ascot (finishing sixth), but everything went wrong that day.
“He was sent too early to the front and it’s very hard to do that going 2,000 meters at Ascot. You need a lot of stamina. On the flat track in Riyadh, on good ground, I’m very sure he can stay the trip, especially now that he’s a 7-year-old and very easy to handle.
“He looks great and has been working well, so we are quite confident he will run a good race. Mickael Barzalona has ridden him very well and will ride him again.”
Both Facteur Cheval and Lazzat will travel on Saturday, Feb. 7 from France via Luxembourg, landing in Riyadh on Sunday morning, Feb. 8. Reynier will arrive a few hours prior to the races on Saturday, Feb. 14.
