Saudi Cup: the fairest of them all

In the Diriyah Arabian Horse Museum on the western outskirts of Riyadh, there is a life-size sculpture of an Arabian mare called Turfa. She is every inch – or hand – an Arabian mare: pure white, a high carriage with all the athleticism and attitude of the breed.

The real Turfa was sent by Ibn Saud, the first ruler of Saudi Arabia, to the new King of England, George VI, as a coronation present. The year was 1937. Turfa was meant to be a present for the new King’s 11-year-old daughter. But although the future Queen Elizabeth was already an accomplished rider, it was decided that four-year-old Turfa might be too much of a handful – the mare was “responsive to the lightest of aids,” according to an article in the Arabian Breeder’s Magazine.

Any novice rider who has ridden a purebred Arabian for the first time will know the feeling. It’s like driving a 1000cc superbike which has its own idea where it wants to go.

Turfa stayed in England during the war years, an enduring symbol of the two royal families’ love of horses and equestrian sports.

The Diriyah museum is a fascinating place to visit, housed in a complex of ancient and modern buildings that tell the dramatic story of the Kingdom’s history. And horses are right at the heart of that story.

But horses and horse racing are also at the heart of the modern Saudi narrative, one which has seen the Kingdom go through seismic economic, environmental and cultural changes in recent years.

Just go to the King Abdulaziz racetrack in Riyadh on the 23 or 24 February and you’ll see why. It’s the venue for the world’s richest horse race, The Saudi Cup, which offers a prize of $20 million to the winner. In all, $37.35M in prize money will be on offer over the weekend’s sport.

The Saudi Cup , which is organised by the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia in partnership with the Ministry of Culture, is also a festival of culture, art, food and fashion showcasing the vast cultural heritage of the Kingdom to attendees as well as celebrating the historic significance of horses.

The racetrack opened in 2019. But horseracing had been a fixture on the capital’s scene since the Jockey Club was formed in 1965.

"Back in the day, we used to race on the track in the city centre,” one jockey said. “I have been coming here for 30 years so I am part of the furniture and I know most of the trainers.”

Everyone hopes that jockey, Frankie Dettori, will be back again this year. The 58-year-old has postponed his long-promised retirement and Riyadh is a favourite track:

“It’s not the first time I have said it, but it’s the best dirt track I have ever ridden. It is kinder than other dirt tracks I have ridden throughout the world.”

The quality of the track, the fact the event kicks off the season of racing ‘majors’, and that huge pot of money will make Riyadh the centre of the racing world on 23 and 24 February. Last year’s winner, Panthalassa was from Japan. As in previous years, there will be thoroughbreds and pure Arabians from the UK, Ireland, the USA and beyond.

The jockeys arrive at the course knowing they have a chance, whatever conditions they are used to in their home country.

Racing journalist Laura King, who was based in Dubai for many years, explains:

“The track is fair. Generally, if you’ve got a good European horse that’s never been on a dirt track like this you can give it a punt and there’s a chance they might handle it. It’s interesting. It’s not like that anywhere else”. To prove the point, 2021 winner, Mishriff, was very much a ‘turf horse’.

The fields for the races will also include a significant number of Saudi-bred horses.

Any notion they were there to make up the numbers – a token gesture to a country that is still pretty new to international racing – was dispelled in 2022.

It was only the third time the Saudi Cup has been run. It had just become a Group 1 race. And it became one of those races that makes this the most romantic of sports.

Into the final straight, the eventual winner had barely been mentioned in the commentary. But Emblem Road, ridden by veteran jockey Wigberto ‘Wiggy’ Ramos, in the middle of the track, saw the leaders to his left bunched towards the rails and just went for it. He won by half a length.

It was a great race, but why so romantic?

Emblem road was an 80-1 shot. It was, said one racing paper, “one of the biggest upsets of the 2022 racing season anywhere in the world.”

Not only that, he was trained locally by Mitab Almulawah for owner Prince Saud bin Salman Abdulaziz. The chairman of the Saudi Jockey Club, was caught up in the emotion, taking the headband off his headdress, the shemagh and waving it in the air as the crowd went wild.

Dubai racing journalist Laura King had never seen crowd scenes like it.

“He was a real outsider. He beat two big American favourites on the day and the celebrations were absolutely off the scale. They’re very, very patriotic in the Middle East. You couldn’t see the horse for the people in white national dress surrounding them. It was great – really memorable”.

The Saudi Cup is for thoroughbreds, of course. The particular qualities of the Arabian horse have been known for millennia: Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan are reputed to have ridden them.

It was in medieval times that Europeans first became aware of its superlative qualities and the Arabian horse joined the great trade routes. The thoroughbred is a product of the selective breeding that followed.

But there are still races for purebred Arabian horses at next weekend’s festival – including the Al Mneefah Cup, a Group 1 race worth $1.5 million to the winner.

Laura King says some international racing fans may be bemused by the sight of the smaller Arabians running with their heads in the air compared to the huge, sleek thoroughbreds they are used to seeing.

But she loves them.

“They start racing later and continue longer. They’re quirky, fun and pretty – they have real character. You might have an Arabian six lengths clear coming to the line and it’ll suddenly duck off. And the trainers that time both will tell you they’re much more intelligent”. Saudi Arabia’s emergence in international sport has focussed, for obvious reasons, on the huge efforts and astronomical sums being spent on football, golf, F1 and boxing. Perhaps Saudi competitors will eventually become global stars in those sports: only time will tell. But while Saudi Arabia does not boast its own Godolphin stables, there is no question that its horses, trainers and events are already a fixture in the international racing season.

The Saudi Jockey Club responds to such talk modestly, saying they are “on a journey” and that events like the Saudi Cup are part of a “positive societal change through sport”.

In forthcoming articles we’ll be looking at the wider cultural impact of the Saudi Cup event.

Find out more here