RIYADH: Saudi Cup eighth Wait To Excel (GB) makes his seasonal return on Saturday at King Abdulaziz Racecourse on a weekend of action that also features two sales races for juveniles, both carrying massive purses of around $133,000 (SR500,000) each.
Those two open events take place on Friday’s European Union Cup card, while Wait To Excel and Ricardo Ferreira will clash with Power In Numbers (USA) and Camilo Ospina in Saturday’s race five over 2000m.
The Red Stable of Prince Faisal bin Khaled bin Abdulaziz-owned Wait To Excel lived up to his name late last season and sealed his Saudi Cup effort by chasing home Rattle N Roll (USA) in The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup, after which he signed off with victory in domestic Group 1 company by taking the King Abdulaziz Racetrack Champion.
Power In Numbers (USA) carries the same rating in the $32,000 event and represents the White Stable of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz & Sons. He will be having his first outing since running down the field in The Custodian last January, having been an impressive winner on this card 12 months ago.
Saturday’s other main event is a $32,000 open for 2-year-olds in which a select field of six has been declared, and they include the White Stable pair of Ned Al Ned (USA) for Ospina, along with Walad (USA), while Red Stables send out Ferreira’s mount Yaltahem (GB).
Friday’s races nine and 10 over 1600m are the two sales races for horses sold at auction in 2024 — with one event for fillies and another for colts and geldings — and both have a full field of 20 runners as the locally purchased runners compete for $133,000.
The headline $40,000 European Union Cup has attracted a field of 16, topped by the King Khaled University Cup hero and Riyadh Dirt Sprint eighth Power Of Beauty (IRE), who bids to improve on his comeback fourth earlier in the month.
The Nicolas Bachalard-trained 6-year-old takes on the once highly-regarded Defunded (USA), who has twice competed in The Saudi Cup, and the Red Stable pair of Almaan (USA) and Alaham (IRE), with the latter continuing to climb the ratings and seeking a third consecutive victory.
The race that follows is the $40,000 Najran Reg. Governorate Cup for fillies and mares over 1600m in which the remarkable White Stable 5-year-old Aeadat (KSA) tries to extend her 10-race winning streak, which was completed when she landed the King Khaled Racecourse Championship on the final day of the Taif season in September.
One of her chief rivals will be the Sheikh Abdullah Homoud Al-Malek Al-Sabah-owned and Thamer Al-Daihani-trained Misaaeel (KSA), whose rating has shot up recently thanks to wins in the Asia Cup and the Riyadh Region Governorate Cup.
