HRN Staff February 23, 2022
The U.S. contingent in Saturday’s Group 1, $20 million Saudi Cup avoided the outside posts in Wednesday’s draw.
Country Grammer drew the inside post, with Midnight Bourbon in post 3, Mandaloun in 6 and Art Collector in 7.
Last year’s winner, Mishriff, drew the outside post among the 14 horses.
Here is the entire field for the race.
| P.P. | Horse | Trainer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Country Grammer | Bob Baffert |
| 2 | Aero Trem | Antonio Pereira |
| 3 | Midnight Bourbon | Steve Asmussen |
| 4 | Real World | Saeed Bin Suroor |
| 5 | Emblem Road | Mitab Almulawah |
| 6 | Mandaloun | Brad Cox |
| 7 | Magny Cours | Andre Fabre |
| 8 | T O Keynes | Daisuke Takayanagi |
| 9 | Art Collector | Bill Mott |
| 10 | Making Miracles | Mitab Almulawah |
| 11 | Sealiway | Francis Henri Graffard |
| 12 | Secret Ambition | Satish Seemar |
| 13 | Marche Lorraine | Yohito Yashagi |
| 14 | Mishriff | John & Thady Gosden |
Ahead of the draw, race officials released the following notes.
Mandaloun (USA). Had a comfortable morning when remaining within the confines of the stable area with Brad Cox’s assistant trainer Dustin Dugas overseeing proceedings.
“Mandaloun just walked this morning, he didn’t go to the track at all,” Dugas said.
“We gave him a nice easy day. He came out of the breeze in really good order. He jogged up sound and he ate up everything last night. He had really good energy this morning, he was very happy with himself. We move forward from here.”
The talented son of Into Mischief will be returning to the track the next day. Trainer Brad Cox will join him, having arrived in Saudia Arabia on Wednesday morning.
Midnight Bourbon (USA). Assistant trainer Scott Blasi was full of praise when asked how Midnight Bourbon was doing on Wednesday morning.
“He came out of the breeze in excellent order. We just walked him today,” Blasi said.
“I couldn’t be happier with how he’s travelled. His appetite has been great, he’s drunk a lot of water. The horses in my barn ship well, all of them. He’ll go to the track tomorrow.
“It will be light exercise from here on. Our major preparation was done at home. We put ourselves in a position not to have to do a lot when we get there,” Blasi concluded.
Country Grammer (USA). Bob Baffert’s Country Grammer exited his final breeze (800m on Tuesday) in top shape for connections. On Wednesday, he walked the shed row and is expected to return to the track on Thursday morning. Baffert was able to watch a video of the work from his California base.
“I liked what I saw,” Baffert said. “They shipped well and they’re moving well and that’s what you want to see in the final work. The reports I’m getting from my team there is that they’re happy with how they went, came back and cooled out.”
Art Collector (USA). Keyed up and ready, Art Collector took a moment to take in his surroundings before setting off to breeze with Neil Poznansky, assistant trainer to Bill Mott, poised in the saddle.
“We had a nice three-eighths breeze this morning. I just wanted to see how he was getting hold of the surface, how he felt doing it and how his energy was doing it: everything was good,” Poznansky said.
“He’s adapted well to the track, he’s been aggressive. He likes to train,” Poznansky continued, whilst trying to hide his smile.
“When we first got him he wasn’t quite as aggressive, but as time has gone on he’s gotten stronger and stronger, he loves to train.”
Champion apprentice jockey in the United States as well as Canada, Poznansky has been partnering the Grade 1 winner ever since he set foot in the Mott barn.
“He’s not a big horse but he’s very well proportioned and gets over the ground well. He’s very efficient, he’s got a big stride for a little horse. He’s undefeated over a mile and an eighth.
“I’ll talk to Bill (Mott) about what we will do tomorrow. It will probably be an easy day, we’ll jog. We’ll gallop into it from there.”
Aero Trem (BRZ) – Assistant trainer Julio Olascoaga has been on hand to supervise the arrival of the Antonio Cintra-trained contingent, which is spearheaded by The Saudi Cup hopeful Aero Trem.
“He’s doing really well, he arrived yesterday from Dubai,” Olascoaga said.
“It’s a very short flight, only about 1.5 hours or so. We took him out of the quarantine barn to jog around. We wanted him to have an easy morning after the flight.
“We’re waiting for his jockey, Vagner Leal, to arrive. He will ride him on track in the morning. We did all the work in Dubai. He’s going to have a look at the track and go easy for the next few days.
“He’s a very good traveller. His last journey was from Uruguay to Dubai, which included two days flying via Germany. We brought a group of horses, six in total, and he was the best traveller. He’s an older horse, so he’s easier to deal with.
“He will take to the track well, I think. This track suits him much better than the Dubai course, as the Saudi Arabia track is similar to the one in Uruguay.”
Emblem Road (USA) and Making Miracles (GB). Both exercised before sunrise on Wednesday and are coming into the race having each won their last three starts.
“The horses are ready and we are ready,” said the stable’s representative Hisham Wahed. “Making Miracles is in good shape, and Emblem Road deserves to be here. He is a good miler but we think that he will be better over a longer distance.
“This year is different for Making Miracles. Even over 2400m he has run very well and I think this year he will run very well [in The Saudi Cup] because we are seeing in him something different. With the 1800m he will do much better and he is showing us much more in his work than last year. Our aim is to keep the Cup in the Kingdom.”
Wahed continued: “Emblem Road is a four-year-old and he is impressing us. He is a champion at the mile but I think he can run 1800m or 2000m, it doesn’t matter. He’s by Quality Road and he has a good pedigree. There are a lot of dangerous horses in the race – Mishriff, Mandaloun, T O Keynes – but, inshallah, we have a good horse and we will see what will happen.”
Magny Cours (USA). Continued his preparation with a routine canter on the dirt track. “He did the same as yesterday, maybe a touch quicker, but that was all,” Richard Lambert, travelling head lad for trainer Andre Fabre, said. “He just hacked and then cantered over 1300 meters. I really liked what I saw. He doesn’t seem to be worried about the surface and was moving freely.”
Marche Lorraine (JPN). One of the three competitors from Yoshito Yahagi’s stable and last year’s Breeders’ Cup Distaff champion, the mare had a final piece of fast workout for 800m on the dirt track.
“Even though I thought it was a bit heavier track, she moved nicely on the surface,” Yahagi said.
“The only concern was that she did not change her leads, so the rider used a whip, but as for the heart rate, her time of the gallop should be satisfactory. She has lost a bit weight after the long travel, but she is now eating up well. I do believe she will be a fit horse on Saturday.”
Mishriff (IRE). Continued his straightforward progression towards defending his title in The Saudi Cup on Saturday. The five-year-old was the first of the European visitors out onto the dirt track on Wednesday morning under regular work rider Ben de Paiva, followed by his stable-mate Harrovian, who is set to run in the Neom Turf Cup presented by Jahez.
“The first day here they were both having a look at things, even though Mishriff has been here twice before,” Thady Gosden, who trains Mishriff in partnership with his father John, said. “But they are both really settled now and the weather is perfect for them, warm with a cool breeze. They are both very relaxed and have settled in well.
“Mishriff went for a trot on the training track yesterday but we were released from quarantine this morning so he just went out for a nice easy canter around the dirt track. David (Egan) will ride him later in the week. He obviously knows him very well but it’s always good for him to get the feel of him before the race.”
Real World (IRE). Global racing heavyweight Saeed bin Suroor is no stranger to big race glory and the five-year-old will be his representative this Saturday following an impressive prep run at Meydan last month.
“It was a good win at Meydan and he looks good now at the moment,” Bin Suroor said from Riyadh. “He did his last piece of work last Thursday morning and worked well and I am very happy with the horse. We are really looking forward to the race on Saturday and we think the trip will suit him better than the mile at Meydan.
“My horses travelled to Saudi Arabia from Dubai on Tuesday night so they did their quarantine this morning at the training track.”
Sealiway (FR). Continues to adapt to the warmer climate in Saudi Arabia and his trainer Francis-Henri Graffard was happy with his work on Wednesday morning. “He cantered over a longer stretch this morning than yesterday,” the trainer said. “It was just a routine workout as all the prep had been done before in France. He seems to have settled in nicely.”
Secret Ambition (GB). Naser Askar’s Secret Ambition arrived with the other two from the Bhupat Seemar yard, Gladiator King and Switzerland, on Tuesday evening and had an easy day around the quarantine barn on Wednesday morning. All are expected to be on track Thursday morning.
“All three shipped in really well,” Seemar said. “Last time they had a lot of delays on the airport, but this time they had a small delay but it went really well and they got there fine. They are eating up and looking well.”
T O Keynes (JPN). The JRA’s champion dirt horse of last year had a steady gallop over the dirt track with his jockey Kohei Matsuyama on board this morning.
“He was in good form and very settled in,” trainer Daisuke Takayanagi said after seeing his stable’s hope.
“As he has done most of the serious workouts back home, my focus will be how I should keep that good condition to the race day. The surface is very cushioned and well organized, but my only concern is that when the other horses stepped on the surface, that it would be stamped down and made harder, so I wondered how it would be on the race day. Any draw besides too wide or too far inside will be fine for us, and hopefully they let us draw in last.”
“The track has great cushion, and my horse handled it very well. Thanks to the stable staff who have done a great job, he keeps good form. Hopeful he will start from the gate quickly,” Matsuyama said.
https://www.horseracingnation.com/news/Saudi_Cup_2022_Notes_ahead_of_Wednesdays_draw_123
