Pegasus World Cup winner to earn spot in Saudi Cup

The winner of the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes on Jan. 23 at Gulfstream Park in Florida will be offered a guaranteed spot in the second running of the $20 million Saudi Cup on Feb. 20 in Saudi Arabia, the organizers of the race announced Friday.

The Pegasus will be one of two races to offer guaranteed spots in the race. The other will be offered to the winner of the Grade 1 Champions Cup on Dec. 6 in Japan, the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia said.

In addition, the winner of the Pegasus’s turf companion race, held the same day as the Pegasus World Cup, will receive an automatic berth to the Middle Distance Turf Cup on the same card as the Saudi Cup, the JCSA said. Both races have $1 million purses.

The Saudi Cup was first held this year, offering the richest purse ever for a horse race. The inaugural race was won by Maximum Security, but the JCSA has withheld the winner’s purse due to the indictment of his trainer in the United States on charges related to administering illegal substances to horses.\

The first running also has become a source of grumbling among U.S. riders after Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith was fined $210,000 and suspended seven days for “misuse of the whip” during his runner-up ride on Midnight Bisou (Smith was handed an additional two days after “failing to weigh-in” for a race). Another U.S. jockey, Irad Ortiz Jr., was given a 10-day suspension for misuse of the whip in races run the day before the Saudi Cup and in the Saudi Cup itself.