Midnight Bisou shines in final local work for Saudi Cup

NEW ORLEANS – Midnight Bisou on a wet Sunday morning turned in her final workout before departing Fair Grounds on Monday for Florida, the launching point for her journey Tuesday to Saudi Arabia for the $20 million Saudi Cup on Feb. 29. And if Sunday’s exercise was any guide, Midnight Bisou is more than ready for that trip.

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Working just after the track opened at 5:45 and breezing over a sloppy, sealed surface, Midnight Bisou, Florent Geroux in the irons, broke off a couple of lengths behind a workmate, whom she inhaled in midstretch, both horses whizzing past a Bret Calhoun-trained horse who was finishing up a work. Midnight Bisou was officially timed in 59.60 seconds for five furlongs but she was asked to gallop out strongly around the turn and didn’t pull up until she was well down the backstretch. Trainer Steve Asmussen timed her galloping out six furlongs in 1:12.60 and seven furlongs in 1:25.60.

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“That’s just who she is, and it’s what’s going to be required when you’re going for a $20 million purse,” said Asmussen.

Midnight Bisou is a stronger horse right now than the one who finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, her most recent start and her only loss in an eight-start 2019 campaign that yielded an Eclipse Award. If all goes as planned, Midnight Bisou will ship straight from Saudi Arabia on to Dubai for a start in the $12 million World Cup there March 28. She and two other Asmussen-trained horses, Engage and Rowdy Yates, are scheduled to depart Fair Grounds at 9:00 Monday morning for Florida. Engage runs in the $1.5 million Saudi Sprint while Rowdy Yates starts in the $800,000 Saudi Derby.