Premium Tap a Saudi victor

Premium Tap was successful at King Abdulazid Racecourse in Janadriyah near Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Friday evening as he scored a 2 3/4-length victory in the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup, aka the King's Cup. Victory assured Premium Tap, a John Kimmel-trained son of Pleasant Tap, a spot in the Dubai World Cup, in which he is expected to clash with Invasor and Discreet Cat.

Racing with an Arabic name - Allam - as all horses do in Saudi Arabia, Premium Tap covered the 1 1/2 miles of the $53,320 Arabian Group 1 contest in 2:28.08 on a dirt track labeled fast under the guidance of Kent Desormeaux.

Third in last year's Breeders' Cup Classic behind Invasor and Bernardini, Premium Tap was purchased by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia after his subsequent victory in the Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs. Kimmel has planned to keep him in Arabia until just before the Dubai World Cup on March 31.-