Defending winner Ceaselessly Younger headlines a robust discipline laden with American and Japanese stars set for the seventh operating of the $20 million Saudi Cup Feb. 14 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Ceaselessly Younger was final seen taking the Nov. 1 Longines Breeders’ Cup Traditional at Del Mar, a race that secured him an Eclipse Award as champion older dust male for 2025.
The anticipated discipline for the Cup, introduced Jan. 30 by the Jockey Membership of Saudi Arabia, has 5 American horses, together with final yr’s Breeders’ Cup Filth Mile winner Nysos and Goodwood Stakes winner Nevada Seaside from Bob Baffert’s barn.
Additionally anticipated are Rattle N Roll, who makes a repeat look for coach Kenny McPeek after ending fifth in 2025; Banishing, sixth within the current Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes; and Bishops Bay, winner of December’s Cigar Mile Handicap. Steve Asmussen-trained Magnitude was initially pointed to the Saudi Cup however won’t make the journey because of sickness, Each day Racing Type reported Feb. 1.
Bishops Bay was bought for $1.3 million on the Keeneland November Horses of Racing Age Sale by Pedro Lanz as agent for King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Sons, and can race in that KAS Stables’ colours. Rattle N Roll additionally has Saudi connections.
Ceaselessly Younger seeks to turn out to be the primary twin winner of the Saudi Cup after chasing down Hong Kong-based Romantic Warrior within the dramatic ending of the 2025 version. He’s anticipated to be joined from the Japanese squad by Luxor Cafe, who completed 12th within the 2025 Kentucky Derby Offered by Woodford Reserve, and Dawn Zipangu.
On Jan. 22, Ceaselessly Younger was honored as champion older dust male of 2025 by Eclipse Award voters primarily based on his total marketing campaign that included just one begin within the U.S. – the aforementioned Longines Traditional. The Saudi Cup gives a “Win and You’re In” berth to this yr’s Longines Traditional set for Oct. 31 at Keeneland.
After the announcement, Bob Baffert stated he plans to attend the Saudi Cup races in particular person for the primary time in a number of years and hopes lastly to saddle a winner after ending second in three of the primary six runnings.
“I’ve misplaced some huge cash within the final 200 meters of that race,” Baffert stated.
Charlatan in 2021 and Nation Grammer in 2022 had been caught within the late phases of the 1,800-meter (about 1 1/8-mile) occasion. In 2023, Nation Grammer fell simply quick once more with a surge by means of the ultimate 200 meters.
The $1.5 million Saudi Derby on the Feb. 14 undercard additionally has a considerable American contingent with Jerome Stakes winner My World, Sanford Stakes winner Obliteration, Acknowledgemeplz, and Very Related anticipated. And so they all may must catch Al Haram, who gained the Saudi Two Thousand Guineas by greater than seven lengths.
Japanese contenders within the Derby are Greatest Inexperienced, Keiai Agito, Satono Voyage, Tokai Ma Cherie and Surprise Dean. The nation’s 3-year-olds are all the time harmful on this race, gained in 2024 by Ceaselessly Younger over Guide’em Danno.
Satono Voyage, an Into Mischief colt, has gained three straight races together with the Cattleya Stakes, first leg of the Japan Highway to the Kentucky Derby. Greatest Inexperienced completed third within the second leg, the Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun. The 2 presently stand third and fourth on Japan’s leaderboard however, as Ceaselessly Younger did two years previous, they abandon that four-race collection in favor of a desert path to Louisville, Ky.
The Saudi Derby has been added to Churchill Downs’ Euro/Mideast Highway to the Kentucky Derby and bestows 20 factors upon the winner. The collection winner, nonetheless, nearly actually shall be decided within the UAE Derby March 28 in Dubai.
Baffert stated he additionally has excessive hopes for Creativeness’s possibilities within the $2 million Riyadh Filth Dash, one other undercard occasion. Second within the Cygames Breeders’ Cup Dash in his final outing, Creativeness is predicted to face American rivals Lovesick Blues and Simply Beat the Odds within the 1,200-meter (about 6-furlong) sprint.
“We simply must get there, first,” Baffert stated.
The Filth Dash gained’t be straightforward for any of them with Hong Kong’s Self Enchancment and a four-strong contingent from Japan opposing.
