Channel Maker to Make Another Trip to Saudi Arabia
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Photo: Coglianese Photos/Janet Garaguso
Owners Dean Reeves (left) and Randy Hill bring Channel Maker into the winner's circle after winning the 2020 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Belmont Park
The Eclipse Award-winning turf champion Channel Maker is on course to run as an 8-year-old in 2022 and will begin the new year Feb. 26 running in the $1.5 million Neom Turf Cup (G3) at King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Riyadh, according to the gelding's ownership group.
Channel Maker, the champion grass male of 2020, started this year in the Neom and finished second in the 2,100-meter (about 10 1/2 furlongs) turf stakes in Saudi Arabia.
Owned by Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, Wachtel Stable, Gary Barber, and Randy Hill's R. A. Hill Stable and trained by Bill Mott, the English Channel gelding has earned $3,416,551.
He finished the year winless in five subsequent starts after the Neom with his best finish coming in a fourth in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (G1T). The Ontario-bred then made his fourth straight appearance in the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T) and was fifth in a field of 14 but was the highest-placed finisher among horses based year-round in the United States.
"He's been doing well. I was so proud of him in the Breeders' Cup. He made a great showing and came back well," Dean Reeves said. "He's a warrior."
Adam Wachtel said the likely plan is to follow last year's schedule and train Channel Maker up to the Neom.