$2,500,000 Longines Red Sea Turf Handicap
Big Call (USA) – The well-travelled Big Call moved to Christophe Ferland in France after spells in Hong Kong and Ireland and won at Group 3 level last year in the Prix Gladiateur.
“He looks well, he just had an easy piece of work today over 1200m and tomorrow he might do a little breeze,” Ferland said. “It’s a good race but it’s a handicap, so he has a chance. The horse with top weight, Subjectivist, is a Group 1 winner so we have to respect him.”
Nate The Great (GB) – Continued his prep by cantering 1600m under regular rider Maddy O’Meara, who regularly oversees the preparation of Andrew Balding’s international runners.
“The horse is good, he just did the same as yesterday – cantering over 1600m – and he’ll go on the grass on Thursday. He won’t do much, just a little more on the grass. We were really happy with how he finished last season and he wintered well. He has a little holiday and then we kept him ticking over so we’re happy to be here and looking forward to it,” O’Meara said.
Sisfahan (GER) – Fabio Marcialis partnered the 2021 German Derby winner in his exercise. “He just did a gentle canter for a lap on the dirt and will do the same tomorrow,” trainer Henk Grewe’s wife Natascha said.
Subjectivist (GB) – It will be an eagerly-anticipated return to action for the six-year-old, who will be having his first run since winning the Group 1 Ascot Gold Cup in June 2021 and is a first runner on the world stage for Charlie Johnston since he took over the training licence from his legendary father, Mark. Subjectivist cantered on the grass track under the watchful eye of his trainer on Wednesday morning.
“He stretched his legs on the grass for the first time this morning after spending a couple of days on the training track. I just wanted to see that he is fit, well and enjoying himself and he looked fairly full of himself out there. It’s just nice to see him back in this type of environment,” Johnston said.
“He went to Newcastle for a racecourse gallop the week before last and he worked a mile and a half [2400m] around there. That was a fairly strenuous workout for him around there as we used it to give us the green light to come out here. It has been 20 months since this horse has seen a racecourse proper, it has been a very long rehab and then a six-month prep to get us to here but with three days to go, touch wood, it has gone as well as it can.”
Trawlerman (IRE) – Tony Proctor is representing trainers John and Thady Gosden with the British challenger and winner of last year’s Ebor Handicap.
“He has been out on the main dirt track accompanied by a pony,” Proctor said. “Nothing much to report. He can be a bit busy but that’s just him, if anything he is more settled out here. He is a very classy and we think he can run well in this and hopefully become a Cup horse this season. We have seen some of these Golden Horn horses get better with age and he is another one.”
Get Shirty (IRE) – Matt Ennis is the work rider for trainer David O’Meara’s runner and has seen good signs.
“I rode him this morning on the main dirt track and he felt in great form,” Ennis said. “He has won big handicaps last summer at Royal Ascot and then at Haydock. He ran well in the Ebor when things went against him and he hasn’t looked out of place in Group races since.
“We believe he can take another step forward this year. He needed his first run at Meydan in January then was much better last time there behind a good Godolphin horse [First Ruler]. This trip looks ideal.”
$2,000,000 Obaiya Arabian Cassic
Rajeh (FR) – Trainer Musabbeh Al Mheiri was track-side to see his experienced and athletic-looking grey carry out an easy canter over a lap of the dirt track. He arrives after a good second in top-level company in Dubai for the Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2.
“I’m happy with him,” Al Mheiri said. “I think he’s a good horse but this is a strong race. I do think he can run well as he likes a deep track like this.”
Rysk Tout (FR) – “She travelled here very well, she did not lose much weight, she is eating up and happy,” trainer Charles Gourdain said.
“She has been in great form winning in Casablanca and then running well at home in Pau last time. We know it will be difficult for her and she will be an outsider, but she deserves her place.”
Samlla (FR) – “He looks fabulous, he is very impressive physically,” trainer Francois Rohaut said.
“He’s in great form, his win in the prep at Pau was very good. He is a champion to me, he is tactically versatile and his jockey Maxime Guyon knows him very well.”
$1,500,000 Neom Turf Cup presented by Altanfeethi
Missed The Cut (USA) – Warmed up with an impressive victory over Algiers at Lingfield back in November and his ambitious trainer George Boughey has grand plans for the four-year-old. Boughey was at the King Abdulaziz Racecourse to see the son of Quality Road canter 1600m on the dirt track.
“I just got into Saudi Arabia so I haven’t seen the horse for very long but he seems great and the guys here are delighted with him,” said Boughey.
“Ryan King, who rides him every day back home, has been in Dubai and has come back down here and got back on him and seems to think he is in great shape. This time last year the horse was walking around Newmarket unraced and he had a rapid rise through the summer last year. Possibly it was too much too soon when we took him out to France for a Group 2 in August and we’ve just taken our time with him since then.
“He is a very good-looking horse and I think he is only furnishing now – he was a very raw horse last year. His demeanor has improved, he is behaving better and is certainly going the right way. He has got to go and do it on the world stage now. His work is getting that way and I think he could be versatile ground and trip wise. He is a horse with a dirt pedigree and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him step onto an all-weather surface in the near future. We’ll take one step at a time but he has got a top-side dirt pedigree and we’ll certainly be exploring that soon.”
Mostahdaf (IRE) – Tony Proctor, representing trainers John and Thady Gosden, has been on hand this week.
“He’s going well,” Proctor said. “He races well fresh so we are hoping that will be the case again. He is probably a bit more mature now also, another year older, and this distance, the extended 10 furlongs, on a flat track should suit him down to the ground. We are pretty hopeful that he will run well.”
Sir Busker (IRE) – “He just did a nice seven furlongs [1400m] cantering on the dirt,” Jitka Krajmerova, travelling head groom to trainer William Knight, said. “I’m very happy with him, he seems great.”
$1,500,000 1351 Turf Sprint presented by stc
Happy Romance (IRE) and Lusail (IRE) – Third to Songline last year, Happy Romance has returned to Saudi Arabia to try and go a couple of places better in the same race this Saturday. The daughter of Dandy Man will be joined by stable companion Lusail who runs in the same race for trainer Richard Hannon. Happy Romance joined fellow British-trained runners at 7am on the dirt track, with Lusail going alone at 9am.
“Both horses have done the work they needed at home so they were just in hand walking on Monday morning, they hacked yesterday morning and just did a nice steady canter from the seven furlong [1400m] pole today. They’ll do the same tomorrow through to Saturday now. They travelled well and are easy horses,” Hector Tournier, representing Hannon, said.
Lauda Sion (JPN) – The winner of the NHK Mile Cup in Japan returns to the race he finished fourth in last year. He had a breeze on the dirt track under the jockey Bauyrzhan Murzabayev.
“Shigeki Todo, the assistant trainer to Takashi Saito who was overseeing the work, said: “We prefer giving just a stretching-out breeze rather than fast gallop on the week of the race. It is our stable’s routine. He looked under control this morning with the jockey which I always want to see.”
$1,500,000 Riyadh Dirt Sprint presented by Sports Boulevard
Remake (JPN) – Koji Maeda’s homebred four-year-old had a relaxed work on Wednesday morning.
Assistant trainer Masafumi Matsuda, who rode the sprinter said: “I asked him to start galloping in slow tempo and gradually speed up as well as picking up in the final 100m. He has done his fast work before leaving Japan so is already fit. He has been improving day by day. I would like to see another jump-up in his condition after his gallop today.”
$1,500,000 Saudi Derby presented by the Boutique Group
Ecoro Ares (JPN) and From Dusk (USA) – Hideyuki Mori is the master of the Saudi Derby, having won first two running of the race in 2020 and 21. His two colts galloped this morning partnered by their big-race race jockeys,Yuichi Fukunaga and Yuga Kawada, respectively.
“What I planned was a solo gallop for both with Ecoro Ares running in front. But since From Dusk was keen to chase his stablemate, they finished the line side-by-side. Both colts are in good shape which I am pleased to see,” Mori said.
Es-Unico (BRZ) – “He looked very good,” trainer Antonio Cintra said.
“He liked the track a lot and the rider said he was very fresh. For him, the race will be perfect. He comes from the back. That will help him here. It will be better than the seven furlongs [1400m] at Meydan. I think he’s much better now than his last race in Dubai because he had a long time without a race.
“Now, he’s fitter than before. We think the horse will reach this race 100 percent. From the mile to 2000m will be best for him, so we will point to the UAE Derby after this race.”
Loreley (BRZ) – He adds to a strong South American representation in the race. Trainer Ricardo Colombo was pleased with what he saw at the King Abdulaziz Racecourse on Wednesday morning as Loreley stepped out on the dirt track.
“I am very happy with the horse,” Colombo said. “The horse arrived in Saudi Arabia yesterday from Dubai and travelled perfectly and is eating his food, which is important after travel. I believe the horse can now run a good race and good performance.
“In Dubai he ran no good because in my opinion we had a short time for his preparation. The horse had a short time in Dubai, he arrived in December and he stayed in quarantine and then had five days on the racetrack. The horse had too short a time before the race on January 13 and I believe he is now much better.”
$1,000,000 Al Mneefah Cup presented by the Ministry of Culture
Djafar (FR) – “He finished third in the Arabian World Cup at Longchamp last October on soft ground he did not like so he is a very good horse and at this level,” trainer Francois Rohaut said.
“Last time he raced at Abu Dhabi but he wasn’t suited by the smaller track there. Here at Riyadh on a bigger, more galloping track, he should perform better. I think I have him in his best form, he is in his prime at the age of six and his jockey Christophe Soumillon knows him from before so we have a few things in our favour.”