Melbourne Cup Alums Head Saudi's Turf Handicap

Three turf races on the $20 million Saudi Cup undercard Feb. 29 at King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Riyadh will give some of Europe's top world travelers a head start on the season—with most of them coming off long layoffs.

The races will be the first ever on the grass in Saudi Arabia. The new course was seeded in early November and, less than four months later, gets glowing reviews from trainers and exercise riders alike.

The feature is the $2.5 million Longines Turf Handicap at 3,000 meters (about 1 7/8 miles). The event has a strong Australian flavor, with 2018 Lexus Melbourne Cup (G1) winner Cross Counter and 2019 Melbourne runner-up Prince of Arran facing the likes of England's Dee Ex Bee.

Dee Ex Bee, second in the 2018 Investec Derby (G1), is best known for chasing multiple staying champion Stradivarius around British tracks, finishing second to that one three times in top races. He is one of the few in this field with a recent outing, albeit only a fifth-place finish in a Jan. 30 handicap in Dubai.

Most of the 14, however, have been living the easy life since the end of their 2019 campaigns and likely would still be in their barns for at least another month were it not for the big-money opportunity of the new Saudi program.

Cross Counter returned from the 2018 Melbourne Cup to win last year's Dubai Gold Cup Sponsored by Al Tayer Motors (G2). The 5-year-old Teofilo gelding trained by Charlie Appleby for Godolphin is winless in four subsequent starts and exits an eighth-place showing in Melbourne. He drew gate 1 with William Buick up.

Prince of Arran, a 7-year-old Shirocco gelding trained by Charlie Fellowes, finished third but was placed second in the 2019 Melbourne Cup. He then was a nonfactor in the Dec. 8 Longines Hong Kong Vase (G1), finishing a fading 11th.

Most connections expressed hope a first-up effort in the desert is a good option for the new year. Joakim Brandt, husband of Called To The Bar's trainer, Pia Brandt, took the Henrythenavigator gelding for a slow canter Wednesday morning. The 6-year-old has not run since finishing fifth in the Hong Kong Vase.

"He is in great form," Joakim Brandt said. "He came here on Sunday, and everything is going all right. He ran a good race in Hong Kong, and seeing that he likes good ground, it made sense to bring him here.”

Irish-based trainer Joseph O'Brien brings two of the 2019 Melbourne Cup contestants —Downdraft, who finished 22nd, and Twilight Payment, who was 11th.

"They've had a good break," O'Brien assistant Brendan Powell said at the barrier draw. "Downdraft disappointed in his last race, but he'd won three days before, so that might have had something to do with it."

The Mohamed Yousuf Naghi Motors Cup, worth $1 million and contested at 2,100 meters (about 1 5/16 mile), drew one of Japan's stars, Deirdre.

The 6-year-old Harbinger mare won the Qatar Nassau Stakes (G1) at Goodwood last summer in a breakthrough for Japanese racing. She subsequently finished third in the QIPCO Champion Stakes (G1) at Ascot and fourth in the Hong Kong Vase at Sha Tin.

Yoshitake Hashida, son of trainer Mitsuru Hashida, said the trip to Saudi Arabia makes sense as a season opener but that Deirdre will return to England after the race with eyes on a bigger prize.

“We will skip the trip to Dubai, and she will go back to Newmarket after Saturday's race," he said. "We will take aim at our biggest target of the year, the Prix l’Arc de Triomphe (G1), in October. I am very honored to be involved in the inaugural international racing event in Saudi Arabia, and we hope she will win.”

A field of nine was drawn, with Deirdre starting from gate 2.

Turf sprinters get their turn in the stc 1351 Cup for $1 million at 1,351 meters (just less than seven furlongs). Thirteen—again, most coming off long layoffs—were drawn.

The exception is Suedois, a 9-year-old gelding by Le Havre trained by David O'Meara. A fierce top-level competitor in his relative youth, including a win in the 2017 Shadwell Turf Mile Stakes (G1T) at Keeneland, Suedois belied his age with a victory in his most recent outing, the Jan. 16 Aliyah Handicap at Meydan.