$6.8 million in stakes to support Saudi Cup

Five stakes races with total purses of $6.8 million will be held as part of the undercard for the inaugural $20 million Saudi Cup, the Saudi racing authorities announced on Monday.

The richest of the five races will be a 15-furlong handicap turf race worth a total of $2.5 million, the announcement said. That race will be one of three races held on a grass course that the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia will install at King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Riyadh prior to the Saudi Cup, scheduled for Feb. 29.

“We believe the new races will help make Saudi Cup Day a wonderful sporting occasion,” said Prince Bandar bin Khalid Al Faisal, a member of the Saudi ruling family who is the chairman of the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia. “And we will be thrilled to welcome international competitors to these new races.”

The other races include a six-furlong dirt sprint race for 3-year-olds and up, worth $1.5 million; a 10 1/2-furlong turf race for 4-year-olds and up, worth $1 million; a turf sprint at about seven furlongs for 4-year-olds and up, worth $1 million; and a one-mile dirt race for 3-year-olds worth $800,000.

Saudi Arabia announced its intention to hold the Saudi Cup at a lavish media event in Saratoga Springs in August. The race will be the richest in the world, open to 4-year-olds and up, run at nine furlongs on the dirt, with a field limited to 14 runners.

The Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia held another event on Monday in London, England, to announce the new races.