Expanded International Kentucky Derby Path Earns Notice

In past years, United States-based trainers fortunate enough to have multiple Kentucky Derby (G1) hopefuls might try to chart different paths toward the first Saturday in May that might see one runner entered at Gulfstream Park and another at Aqueduct Racetrack, or one at Santa Anita Park and another at Oaklawn Park.

While those decisions continue to be made, a glance at the Feb. 14 Saudi Derby (G3) entries points to trainers now considering races beyond North America. Of the 14 horses expected to start in Saturday's Saudi Derby at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, four are conditioned by U.S.-based trainers.

While in previous years a few U.S. trainers have made pre-Derby starts in races such as the UAE Derby (G2) on the Dubai World Cup (G1) undercard, Churchill Downs' decision to add the Saudi Derby and two other races to its 2025-26 Euro/Mideast Road to the Kentucky Derby has made this desert path more attractive.

Now trainers have the opportunity to travel to the Middle East and potentially make multiple starts there in Kentucky Derby points races. Suddenly, the Saudi Derby not only offers a lucrative purse of $1.5 million for 3-year-olds on dirt, but it also offers Derby qualifying points and could fit into a multiple international start path to the Churchill Downs classic. 

The Euro/Mideast Road offers its own points standings—separate from the main Road and the Japan Road—and will reward up to two positions in the starting gate. The Saudi Derby will award points to the top five finishers, and, with its 30-15-9-6-3 scale, the race winner immediately will vault to the top of the standings for this circuit as currently two horses are tied with 20 points and neither of them is competing Saturday.

Road to the Kentucky Derby point standings

The Saudi Derby is contested at one turn over 1,600 meters (about 1 mile). Those conditions should prove attractive for any trainer who wishes to then stretch out to the 1,900 meters (about 1 3/16 miles) of the UAE Derby. Of course, the conditions—and large purse—also make the race attractive as a one-off for talented sophomore sprinters.

The other two races added to this year's Euro/Mideast schedule are both at Meydan: the UAE Two Thousand Guineas (G3) won Jan. 23 by Six Speed , a Kentucky-bred son of Not This Time   who earned 20 Derby qualifying points; and the Feb. 20 Dubai Road to the Kentucky Derby Stakes to be contested at the same distance as the UAE Derby.

READ: American, Japanese Runners to Battle in Saudi Derby

As for those four U.S.-based runners entered in the Saudi Derby, Steve Asmussen-trained Obliteration  enters with a rating of 110—second highest in the field. Last year's Sanford Stakes (G3) winner placed in three other stakes and finished fourth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1T). The son of Violence   opened his 3-year-old campaign Jan. 3 at Oaklawn with a 7 1/2-length romp in the Renaissance Stakes at 6 furlongs.

The other three U.S.-trained runners entered in the Saudi Cup are this year's Jerome Stakes winner My World , for trainer Brad Cox; grade 3-placed Very Connected , for Kenny McPeek; and grade 2-placed Acknowledgemeplz , for Doug O'Neill.

The Saudi Derby-UAE Derby path to the Kentucky Derby already has yielded some level of success. In 2024, before the Saudi Cup offered qualifying points, Forever Young  swept the two races—securing his Derby spot in the latter—ahead of his third-place finish in the Kentucky Derby. Forever Young won last year's Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) and will try Saturday to win the Saudi Cup a second straight year.