Ginobili to scratch from Riyadh Cup Sprint; Buick won’t ride after positive COVID test

Ginobili, one of the better one-turn dirt horses in North America, won’t be able to start in the $1.5 million Riyadh Cup Sprint on Saturday in Saudi Arabia.

Trainer Richard Baltas, who remained in California, said Ginobili came out of his second gallop at King Abdulaziz Racecourse lame in his left front leg.

“The main thing is the horse is okay. Preliminary X-rays were negative; his second set of X-rays is not completely clear yet. We got to get him back home and do a nuclear scan on him, I think,” Baltas said.

Ginobili won the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien Stakes last August and finished a distant second behind Life Is Good’s tour de force in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. In his most recent start, Ginobili tired and finished sixth in the Cigar Mile.

Saudi Cup officials on Friday also announced that jockey William Buick returned a positive PCR test for COVID-19 and would not be able to ride the Saturday card. James Doyle takes over for Buick on Naval Crown in the 1351 Turf Sprint and on Siskany in the Red Sea Turf Handicap. Frankie Dettori picks up Buick’s mount Noble Truth in the Saudi Derby, and David Egan rides Copano Kicking in the Riyadh Cup Sprint. Egan also rides Happy Power, which was Doyle’s original mount, in the 1351 Turf Sprint.