The Saudi Cup was first held in February 2020 and made an immediate and positive impact on the world stage. With prize money across the race weekend of USD$35.1m for both dirt and turf contests and staged at King Abdulaziz Racecourse a month before the Dubai World Cup, the event has very quickly slotted into the global racing calendar.
Making the most of the racing industry’s focus on the Gulf region during the European winter months, The Saudi Cup consists of Friday’s stc International Jockeys’ Challenge, featuring equal numbers of men and women riders, while the highlight of the two-day event is the Group 1 USD$20m Saudi Cup, the world’s most valuable race which brings proceedings to a close on the Saturday.
During The Saudi Cup weekend, as well as during the regular season, samples are sent to International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) reference laboratories, in Paris and Hong Kong which helps to support the JCSA’s efforts to safeguard the integrity of racing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The 2021 victory of Mishriff (IRE) was an inspiring milestone for horse racing. The John and Thady Gosden-trained star has a highly international background, having been bred in Ireland, trained in England and owned by a Saudi national. The year that followed brought another success to horse racing in Saudi Arabia, with locally trained and owned Emblem Road (USA) taking the victory at The Saudi Cup 2022.
As well as attracting some of the best known racehorses from across the world, The Saudi Cup serves to further highlight the opportunities for people within racing to the local population and is fast becoming a shopfront with which to showcase Saudi Arabia as a destination for sporting events and tourism.
Embraced as one of the social highlights of The Kingdom’s burgeoning winter events season, the fashion and culture aspect of racing has become an important element of The Saudi Cup, with focus placed on the significance of the wide variety of traditional regional dress and its evolution in a changing society as well as the key role played by horses in the formation of The Kingdom. A number of Saudi fashion designers dressed celebrities for the event and international milliner, Philip Treacy prepared a bespoke line of hats for The Saudi Cup, which were worn by VIPs on the big day.
