Imagination overcomes slow start with furious rally to take Riyadh Dirt Sprint
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A tardy start could not keep the California-based Imagination from a brilliant win in Saturday’s Group 2 Riyadh Dirt Sprint in Saudi Arabia.
Ridden by Flavien Prat for trainer Bob Baffert, Imagination (who paid $3.60 in American pools) closed with a wide rally to win the $2 million Riyadh Dirt Sprint by three-quarters of a length over the Florida shipper Just Beat the Odds, a 20-1 chance.
The Riyadh Dirt Sprint, at six furlongs, was the first start for Imagination since a second-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar in November.
Starting from post 9, Imagination was briefly last and racing wide before Prat moved the 5-year-old into a ground-saving position nearing the turn. Entering the stretch, which covers slightly more than a quarter-mile, Prat moved Imagination toward the outside.
Imagination closed steadily to edge past Just Beat the Odds in the final 40 yards. Imagination was timed in 1:12.
“I had some anxious moments at the start,” Baffert said in a television interview.
“When he switched out, I knew he had a chance.
“We brought a good one. He’s a miler. You need a miler to win a sprint race here. He’s getting better and better. I think a mile is his distance.”
Just Beat the Odds, who won the Grade 3 Elite Power Stakes at Aqueduct in December in his last start, finished three-quarters of a length in front of Muqtahem, a 5-year-old Irish-bred gelding who was second in the 2025 Riyadh Dirt Sprint and had won five subsequent starts in Saudi Arabia prior to Saturday’s race.
Lovesick Blues, the winner of the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes at Del Mar last July, closed from the back of the field to finish fifth of 13, beaten 4 1/4 lengths. Lovesick Blues was sixth in the BC Sprint in his last start before the Riyadh Dirt Sprint.
Imagination, by Into Mischief, earned $1.2 million for the win, his fourth victory in his 15th start. Imagination, who races for a partnership that includes SF Racing, Starlight Racing and Madaket Stables, has career earnings of $2,143,700.
Purchased for $1.05 million as a yearling at Keeneland in 2022, Imagination won his third stakes in the Riyadh Dirt Sprint. He won the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita in March 2024, and the Grade 2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship at six furlongs last September in a prep race for the BC Sprint.
Imagination is the third American-based winner of the Riyadh Dirt Sprint in the last four years, joining Elite Power (2023) and Straight No Chaser (2025).
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