Defending winner Forever Young, last seen winning the Nov. 1 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Del Mar, headlines a strong field laden with American and Japanese stars set for the seventh running of the Saudi Cup (G1) Feb. 14 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The expected field for the Cup, announced Jan. 30 by the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia, has six American horses, including last year's Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) winner Nysos and Goodwood Stakes (G1) winner Nevada Beach from Bob Baffert's barn.
Also expected are Steve Asmussen-trained Magnitude, who defeated 2025 Dubai World Cup winner Hit Show by a half-length in the Clark Stakes (G2) Nov. 28, and Rattle N Roll, who makes a repeat appearance for trainer Kenny McPeek after finishing fifth in 2025. Banishing, sixth in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1), and Bishops Bay, winner of December's Cigar Mile Handicap (G2), also are expected.
Bishops Bay was purchased for $1.3 million at the Keeneland November Horses of Racing Age Sale by Pedro Lanz as agent for King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Sons, and will race in that KAS Stables' colors. Rattle N Roll also has Saudi connections.
Forever Young seeks to become the first dual winner of the Saudi Cup after chasing down Hong Kong's Romantic Warrior in the dramatic ending of the 2025 edition. He is expected to be joined from the Japanese squad by Luxor Cafe, who finished 12th in the 2025 Kentucky Derby, and Sunrise Zipangu.
After the announcement, Baffert said he plans to attend the Saudi Cup races in person for the first time in several years and hopes finally to saddle a winner after finishing second in three of the first six runnings.
"I've lost a lot of money in the last 200 meters of that race," Baffert said.
Charlatan in 2021 and Country Grammer in 2022 were caught in the late stages of the 1,800-meter (about 1 1/8-mile) event. In 2023, Country Grammer fell just short again with a surge through the final 200 meters.
Saudi Derby and Riyadh Dirt Sprint
The Saudi Derby (G3) also has a substantial American contingent with Jerome Stakes winner My World, Sanford Stakes (G3) winner Obliteration, Acknowledgemeplz, and Very Connected expected. And they all could have to catch Al Haram, who won the Saudi Two Thousand Guineas by more than 7 lengths.
Japanese contenders in the Derby are Best Green, Keiai Agito, Satono Voyage, Tokai Ma Cherie and Wonder Dean. The country's 3-year-olds are always dangerous in this race, won in 2024 by Forever Young over Book'em Danno.
Satono Voyage, an Into Mischief colt, has won three straight races including the Cattleya Stakes, first leg of the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby. Best Green finished third in the second leg, the Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun. The two currently stand third and fourth on Japan's leaderboard but, as Forever Young did two years past, they abandon that four-race series in favor of a desert path to Louisville, Ky.
The Saudi Derby has been added to Churchill Downs' Euro/Mideast Road to the Kentucky Derby and bestows 20 points upon the winner. The series winner, however, almost certainly will be determined in the UAE Derby (G2) March 28 in Dubai.
Baffert said he also has high hopes for Imagination's chances in the Riyadh Dirt Sprint (G2). Second in the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) in his last outing, Imagination is expected to face American rivals Lovesick Blues and Just Beat the Odds in the 1,200-meter (about 6-furlong) dash.
"We just have to get there, first," Baffert said.
The Dirt Sprint won't be easy for any of them with Hong Kong's Self Improvement and a four-strong contingent from Japan opposing.
Also on the Saudi Cup program
The Neom Turf Cup (G1T) is run as a group 1 for the first time with the purse upped from $2 million to $3 million. Runners from Japan, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Japan, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia are expected in the gate. Among them is the 2025 winner, Shin Emperor.
Melbourne Cup (G1) runner-up Goodie Two Shoes is the star among three entered by Ireland's Joseph Patrick O'Brien for the Red Sea Turf Handicap (G2T) at 3,000 meters (about 1 7/8 miles). Epic Poet was second in this in 2025 and English trainer David O'Meara sends him back for another go.
Lazzat, winner of the 2025 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Cup (G1T) at Royal Ascot, will have his hands full in the 1351 Turf Sprint (G2T). Expected participants also include a former winner, Annaf, and American sprinters Time to Dazzle, Reef Runner, and Zio Jo. Japan's Shin Forever, a Complexity colt who finished second in the Saudi Derby on dirt last year, will try turf at King Abdulaziz Racecourse this year in the 1351 Turf Sprint.
The Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia takes pride in the Saudi International Handicap, created for horses from Part II and Part III jurisdictions in the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities. The race is designed to provide opportunities and exposure for racing in those countries and, for the first time, has lured runners from Belgium and Denmark to join representatives of Spain, Bahrain, Qatar, and the Czech Republic as well as host Saudi Arabia.
