Knicks Go, Charlatan among 14 entered for Saudi Cup

Fourteen horses were entered Wednesday for the second renewal of the $20 million Saudi Cup on Saturday at King Abdulaziz Racecourse outside Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Even with well-backed McKinzie failing to fire, American-based horses dominated the 2020 Saudi Cup, finishing first, second, fourth, and fifth, and this year’s American shippers, led by Knicks Go and Charlatan, are widely considered the principal players again this year.

Charlatan fared better at the Wednesday post position draw than did Knicks Go, drawing post 9. Knicks Go breaks from post 5 under Joel Rosario and figures to go straight to the front, and rather than having to maneuver into the clear from an inside draw, jockey Mike Smith on Charlatan, who has plenty of speed in his own right, can shadow the leader through a long run down the backstretch. The Saudi Cup is contested over 1,800 meters, about 1 1/8 miles, around one turn.

:: Past performances for the Saudi Cup will be available on DRF.com

Jimmy Barnes, the longtime assistant trainer to Bob Baffert who traveled with Charlatan to Saudi Arabia, said he spoke to Baffert before the draw regarding post position. “He said anything six, seven, eight, nine would be perfect,” Barnes said.

Knicks Go, trained by Brad Cox, enters the Saudi Cup after sharp victories in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile and the Pegasus World Cup Invitational. Charlatan, a leading early season 3-year-old sidelined for the summer and fall after sustaining an injury, won the Grade 1 Malibu on Dec. 26 in his first start since May. Baffert passed the Pegasus to bring Charlatan fresh to the Saudi Cup.

The other American horses are Max Player, who drew post 4; Tacitus, who will break from post 7; and Sleepy Eyes Todd, who has post 8. The remainder of the field, from inside to out, is Chuwa Wizard, a shipper from Japan; Bangkok, from England; Saudi-based Great Scot; Global Giant, the seemingly lesser of two John Gosden-trained entrants; Military Law, a Dubai shipper with plausible hope for a high placing; Simsir, a Bahrain-based longshot; Mishriff, the Gosden-trained winner of the 2020 French Derby; surprise entrant Derevo; and Extra Elusive, an England-based horse lacking dirt credentials.

The American horses arrived Feb. 9 in Saudi Arabia and all were said to have shipped without incident. All but Tacitus had Monday blowouts over the track surface on which they’ll race. The dirt is soft, deep and kind, and Baffert has spoken on multiple occasions about hoping surface maintenance officials adequately water the course on race night. Baffert, who sent out McKinzie and fourth-place Mucho Gusto in the inaugural Saudi Cup, thought the track got too dry and loose last year.

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Bill Mott trains Tacitus, and he also runs Channel Maker in the Middle Distance Turf Cup on Saturday. Steve Asmussen, Max Player’s trainer, has Cowan, who drew post 5 for the Saudi Derby.

The Mott horses are expected to go from Saudi Arabia to Dubai to prepare for races there, to be run on March 27, while Asmussen said his pair could follow the same path if things go well for them.

Baffert said last week it was all but certain Charlatan would return to California after Saturday’s race and be campaigned domestically the rest of 2021.