Saudi Cup Next for Bangkok After Winter Derby Trial Win
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Photo: Steven Cargill / Racingfotos.com
Bangkok (white and blue cap) wins the Betway Winter Derby Trial Stakes over Forest of Dean at Lingfield
Bangkok was handed an opening quote of 50-1 by bookmaker Paddy Power for this month's $20 million Saudi Cup after landing the Feb. 6 Betway Winter Derby Trial Stakes at Lingfield for the second year running.
Backed into 8-13 odds (from 11-10 in the morning), Andrew Balding's class act struck late under a cool ride from Ryan Moore to see off old rivals Felix and Forest of Dean.
Unlike on his previous start where he made the running and was just touched off by Felix, Bangkok was settled off a gentle pace set by Vintager before kicking for home turning in where he was always holding the eventual runner-up.
Rather than have another crack at the Betway Winter Derby Stakes (G3) back at the track in three weeks, for which he was the anticipated favorite, Bangkok is instead headed to Riyadh to take up a much more lucrative engagement at King Abdulaziz Racecourse.
American-based runners Charlatan and Knicks Go are that race's anticipated headliners.
Balding said: "Bangkok is a class horse and did that very well under a great ride from Ryan. He's received an invitation for the Saudi Cup on Feb. 20 and the plan is to fly him out there.
"He's never run on dirt so we'll have to see how he handles it but he enjoys the all-weather and is pretty versatile."