Saudi Cup news release February 24, 2022

Ahead of Saturday’s $20 million Saudi Cup, the race’s media team send the following updates on each runner.
Art Collector (USA). Bill Mott’s runner has been turning heads all week and continued to strut around with assistant trainer Neil Poznansky keeping him focused.
“Art Collector was fine, he didn’t get revved up, he jogged around smoothly,” Poznansky said.
Top jockey Luis Saez takes the mount on both Mott runners and has been able to deliver on Art Collector’s potential with a Grade 1 Woodward triumph.
“Luis knows Art Collector well. He gets him out of the gate and secures a good position on him, which an older horse obviously likes. The horse seems to respond to him very well, the assistant continued.
“Tomorrow we will just gallop. We won’t be doing too much the day before the race. I will be trying to get Art Collector around there, I don’t want to fight him or anything like that, but I don’t want to go too fast either.”
Country Grammer (USA). Trainer Bob Baffert comes into the race from a fresh angle and with an even fresher horse in WinStar Farm and Zedan Racing’s Country Grammer. Accustomed to being a leading player, the winner of 234 Grade/Group 1 has a less heralded competitor on his hands this time.
“This time we have a bit of a long shot and he should be one because he hasn’t run in a long time, but he’s a very good horse,” Baffert said.
“I think you need to go over there with a really good horse and for $20 million it’s not going to be a walkover. The first year we went over there with McKinzie and Mucho Gusto, turning for home I was looking for the wire and it never came. You just don’t know how they’re going to run that night and you’re just hoping that they break well, bring their A-game and, turning for home, you hope they’re right there in the mix, because they have to be on that track to win this race.”
Country Grammer has been exceptional in his past two efforts – his lone runs for Baffert – including a gritty victory in the Hollywood Gold Cup (G1) over 1 1/4 miles. On Saturday, he must overcome a 270-day break from racing, but he has put in a series of strong works at California, including three of his past four from the gate. Previously in the care of Chad Brown – for whom he won two of six starts, including the Peter Pan Stakes (G3) – he finished his preparation with a four-furlong breeze on Tuesday.
“I thought he worked really well the other day and you want to see that they like the track and are moving well,” Baffert said. “The class is there and the distance won’t be an issue, but the only thing I worry about with him might be the one-turn mile and an eighth instead of two turns. We saw that last year with Knicks Go not being as effective as around two turns. I’ve been working him aggressively from the gate so he’ll get out and be up on the speed and I’ve been training him to run around one turn.
“Mandaloun and Mishriff are likely the horses to beat and are both going to be tough. I think our horse is going to run well. His races before he went on the shelf were pretty impressive and he’s proven that he’s a fighter.
“Originally, they wanted to stay in California and run in these races here, but Amr Zedan was interested in buying into a horse for the Saudi Cup and approached Elliott Walden at WinStar Farm. He talked him into it and did the deal himself and I think it’s important to have these kinds of owners. These races like The Saudi Cup and Dubai World Cup are extremely important for these owners. A lot of them finally get a chance to really get a return on investment and stay in the business.
“It’s all a brilliant move by the Saudi Arabian people to come up with this race, the same way it was for Sheikh Mohammed to develop the Dubai World Cup,” he concluded. “The people of the Middle East, in general, are so passionate about horses and racing and I really love that. I hope that we can run well and if he can finish first, second or third, it would be a thrill.”
Mandaloun (USA). Went around the track steadily, followed by a visit to the starting stalls, with reigning trainer Brad Cox watching on intently.
“We normally stand him in the gate. We breezed on Tuesday this week so it’s a little bit of a different schedule than we’re used to,” Cox said. “The gates are a little more narrow here than we are used to at home.”
Grade 1 star Mandaloun went in patiently, stood for a few moments, before being backed out successfully. Both Cox as well as regular jockey Florent Geroux were on hand to supervise and discuss proceedings with the gate crew.
“He’s a strong horse. He was really, really good and moving around great. He jogged straight to the top of the lane and then galloped back around,” Cox said.
Having recently arrived in Saudia Arabia, Cox is upbeat on how the Haskell victor has been preparing: “So far everything looks really good, I believe we are on track for a big effort.”
Midnight Bourbon (USA). Team Steve Asmussen has been touting Midnight Bourbon as one of the most talented horses in training, and he will have to back up those fighting cries when renewing his rivalry with Grade 1 winner Mandaloun. The bulky son of Tiznow is easy to spot and went around steadily for an easy morning workout, with assistant trainer Scott Blasi pleased with his progress throughout the week.
Aero Trem (BRZ). Trainer Antonio Cintra has been following his runners’ progress from the rail, joined by assistant trainer Julio Olascoaga.
“Aero Trem went one lap around the track, he’s fit, he’s ready,” Cintra said.
“He breezed before he left Dubai, which was a very good breeze. We know that the race is competitive, we will be able to see how the South American form holds up, how good we are.
“This is the best you can achieve as a trainer, one year ago I couldn’t imagine competing here, and here we are. Jockey Vagner Leal returned with positive feedback, saying the horse was fit and enjoys the track.
“Leal has been riding Aero Trem every single day for the last two maybe even three years. I don’t remember the day that another rider was on him. They make a good team together.”
Emblem Road (USA) and Making Miracles (GB). The home-trained pair continued in their smooth prep for Saturday’s big race.
Mitab Almulawalah’s stable representative Hisham Abdul Wahed said: “Making Miracles and Emblem Road both cantered this morning, just steady, and everything is going well. We have so much hope.”
Magny Cours (USA). Drew gate number number 7 in The Saudi Cup and on Thursday morning, Richard Lambert, who was watching the Godolphin-owned horse canter on the dirt, said: “That number is all right for us. There are good horses around us. This morning he cantered and just quickened in the final 100m to see how he moved. He was more relaxed than yesterday, which is good, as he can easily get worked up. However, he loves travelling. He is a different horse when he is abroad.”
Marche Lorraine (JPN). Yoshito Yahagi’s trainee was working at the training track.
Mishriff (IRE). Defending champion Mishriff did a repeat of Wednesday’s exercise when strolling along the chute before cantering a lap of the dirt track with regular rider Ben de Paiva.
Co-trainer Thady Gosden said: “He just went for a nice canter this morning. He was pointing his toe and stretched out nicely. He’s very relaxed here and has settled into it well. He enjoys this surface.”
Real World (IRE). Looked fantastic in the sunshine at Riyadh on Thursday morning and he cantered over 2000m with his stable companions under the watchful eye of his trainer Saeed bin Suroor.
“Real World did a mile and a quarter routine canter this morning on the dirt track and he looks good,” Bin Suroor said. “The ground is a little bit deep which is different to last year and I hope it will be the same as the race – a little bit different.”
Reflecting on being responsible for drawing Real World in barrier 4 on Wednesday evening, Bin Suroor joked: “I did good for the first time! Sometimes I draw number 1 or the last outside draw usually but last night I did good and I am happy with 4 and hopefully it will be a good trip for him.”
Sealiway (FR). Will leave from gate number 11 in The Saudi Cup and his French trainer Francis-Henri Graffard was happy enough with that result. On Thursday morning, Sealiway was out on the dirt track where he cantered behind fellow French compatriot Glycon.
“He went a little bit quicker this morning,” Graffard said. “He came onto the dirt track behind Glycon and so was much more focused. He moved well and was on the right leg going into the turn, which is exactly what I wanted to see this morning.”
Secret Ambition (GB). It is no secret that the pressure is high for any trainer of a horse in the world’s richest horse race, but having the ambition to do so in their freshman season is surely noteworthy. In such, it is only fitting that Bhupat Seemar, who took over the Zabeel Stables license in Dubai in November, looks to land the lion’s share of the race with a horse named Secret Ambition. Owned by Naser Askar, the nine-year-old seasoned warrior won the 2021 Godolphin Mile in March and enters off a strong second in the Al Maktoum Challenge Round 1 in January at Meydan.
“It’s a thing of dreams and really is unbelievable to have a horse run in my name in the richest race in the world,” Seemar said. “It’s surreal and hasn’t really sunk in yet, but on the other hand I’m here to do a good job and have these horses ready to run. It’s been a great journey to get here and I feel like I have my horses right on target.”
Previously in the care of Uncle Satish Seemar, Secret Ambition is an 11-time winner and will make his 44th start in The Saudi Cup. He has been a force in the UAE mile division over the past few seasons and further victories in the 2021 Firebreak and 2019 Jebel Ali Mile up the stiff Jebel Ali hill give Seemar hope that the son of Exceed And Excel will handle the extra distance of Saturday’s 1800m test.
“He’s a tough horse,” Seemar said. “He’s an entire, he still thinks he’s the man and you can’t mess about with him. When you go into his stall, he will still come at you and want to kill you and the same thing goes with training him. You can’t bully him because he’ll try to bully you right back.
“His entire career has been a great learning curve and has taught us a lot of patience. That’s what makes every horse special, really. He has the talent and he’s worth the time.
“He doesn’t have to have the lead, but he will be tough to keep off it if he breaks well. When you watch the Godolphin Mile, they went some serious fractions the first two quarters and he just kept at it and kept at it and buried them.”
“In the Al Maktoum Challenge Round 1, he broke well and battled throughout the race with Godolphin Mile runner-up and eventual winner Golden Goal, but relented late to finish a good second.
“He’s a fighter and he will come on in a big way from his first run in the Maktoum Challenge,” Seemar said. “It’s always hard to run against horses who have already had a run and he is nine, so you can only do so much in the mornings to get him ready. He was 80% fit for that and got a big blow and battled hard, like usual. Hopefully we get a good break on Saturday and he runs his regular hard-trying race.”
On Thursday morning, the bay entire got his first look at the local surroundings and had an easy gallop around the 2000m dirt track before promptly returning to the barns. He was accompanied by fellow Zabeel pupils Gladiator King and Switzerland.
T O Keynes (JPN). The first overseas challenger from Daisuke Takayanagi’s stable in his fifth training season went to the paddock for schooling and had a gate exercise.
“I am happy with how he has behaved and stayed quietly in the gate. I will talk to the starter that I want him to load in last,” Takayanagi said.
2022 Saudi Cup (G1)
*Rating is based on HRN fan votes, which rank the Top Active Horses in training.
https://www.horseracingnation.com/news/Saudi_Cup_U_S_trainers_confident_ahead_of_Saturdays_race_123