According to assistant trainer Riley Mott, Tacitus has matured and is traveling well over the King Abdulaziz surface in preparation for Saturday night's $20 million Saudi Cup.
Twice in the last four months, Encouraging has looked like a winner in the stretch in Hong Kong only to finish behind Golden Sixty. At least, Encouraging is keeping good company.
Horse racing maintains a relatively low profile in Saudi Arabia, and the only Thoroughbred track in the city of Riyadh was quiet during late training hours Monday morning. That will change Saturday evening when many of the top male handicap horses from the United States, along with the top female, race for a $20 million purse in the inaugural Saudi Cup on the sweeping turns of King Abdulaziz Racetrack.
Declan Schuster's Hong Kong selections and analysis for Wednesday, February 26, 2020 at Happy Valley.
Mozu Ascot earned a fees-paid berth to the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland on Nov. 7 and Cafe Pharoah earned 30 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 2 with stakes wins at Tokyo Racecourse in Japan on Sunday.
Neither a recent illness nor a longer distance could stop Golden Sixty from winning another race in Hong Kong. Golden Sixty pushed his record to nine wins from 10 starts as he bolted to a half-length win Sunday at Sha Tin in the $1.28 million Hong Kong Classic Cup.
Hong Kong selections for Saturday, February 22 at Sha Tin.
The race card Sunday at Tokyo has linkages to America. The Group 1 February Stakes over 1,600 meters on dirt is a Breeder’ Cup Challenge Win and You’re In race linked to the BC Classic, while the Hyacinth Stakes, another 1,600-meter dirt race, is the third race in the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby.
Ten are entered in a fascinating renewal of the $1.28 million Hong Kong Classic Cup, middle leg of the 4-year-old classic series in Hong Kong.
While the $20 million Saudi Cup will become the world's richest horse race when it is run for the first time on Feb. 29, its influence on United States racing has already begun. Five U.S. runners bound for the Saudi Cup, and seven others for lucrative undercard stakes, arrived this week in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
