No Laurel River, winner of the Dubai World Cup and the highest-rated horse in the world last year. No Sierra Leone, Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and champion 3-year-old male last year in America. No White Abarrio, smashing winner of the Pegasus World Cup, and no Locked, the on-the-come 4-year-old second to him in the Pegasus. All those defections yet the $20 million Saudi Cup, the richest horse race in the world, still packs juice. That owes much to the appearance of the world’s richest racehorse, Romantic Warrior, Saturday night (12:40 p.m. Eastern in the United States) at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh. Romantic Warrior has banked a little less than $23 million in purse earnings while putting together an all-time great career – and he still is going strong at age 7. The first three-time winner of the Hong Kong Cup, Hong Kong’s biggest race, Romantic Warrior already has carried his Hong Kong form abroad, winning Group 1 races in Australia, Japan, and, last month, in Dubai. Now comes his first – and likely only – try on dirt, and should Romantic Warrior capture the Saudi Cup, his star would rise higher still. His trainer, Danny Shum, and jockey, James McDonald, both appear quietly confident that Romantic Warrior has trained well enough over dirt in Hong Kong, in Dubai, and most recently in Saudi Arabia, that carrying his incredible form across surfaces is not a longshot. But while Romantic Warrior is no longshot Saturday, he was not, as of Thursday, favored to win the Saudi Cup with British bookmakers. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Narrowly heading the antepost market was another horse from East Asia, Japan-based Forever Young, who has not yet scaled the heights of Romantic Warrior but also has far fewer questions to answer. Perhaps the best dirt horse Japan has produced, Forever Young, despite having raced only nine times, is a seasoned traveler, and he counts among his international exploits a trip a year ago to Saudi Arabia. Forever Young, making his first start outside Japan, ran down the subsequent Grade 1 winner Book’em Danno in the Saudi Derby, a 1,600-meter contest short of Forever Young’s best distance, and a race in which he failed to change leads. Forever Young went on to win the U.A.E. Derby, just miss winning the Kentucky Derby, and then, making a second trip to America, finish a good third, earning a world-class 109 Beyer Speed Figure, behind Sierra Leone and Fierceness in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Forever Young and regular rider Ryusei Sakai break from the far outside in a 14-runner field, not an ideal draw but far from deal-breaking. The Saudi Cup is contested over 1,800 meters, about 1 1/8 miles: Two long straightaways form the heart of the race, and Forever Young will have plenty of time to find position before hitting the Saudi Cup’s lone turn. “I haven’t worried about the draw too much, but I’d prefer an outside gate to inside,” trainer Yoshito Yahagi told Saudi Cup publicity. Lightly raced Forever Young long has been aimed at the Saudi Cup. He didn’t race after the Derby until Oct. 4, and following the Breeders’ Cup Classic the colt stayed in steady training, winning the Grade 1 Tokyo Daishoten on Dec. 29, with three other Saudi Cup runners – Ramjet, Ushba Tesoro, and Wilson Tesoro – behind him. Forever Young raced from well off the pace in the Saudi Derby and the Kentucky Derby but has evolved into a horse with effective positional pace. He stalked fast splits in the BC Classic and after breaking on top in the Tokyo Daishoten sat second before making his winning move in the homestretch. :: Subscribe to the DRF Post Time Email Newsletter: Get the news you need to play today's races!  The 1,800-meter trip might be Romantic Warrior’s best, and if he brings his top race to dirt, he can beat an in-form Forever Young. Irish-bred Romantic Warrior is by turf sire Acclamation but is out of a mare by Street Cry, a multiple Grade 1 winner on dirt. Rattle N Roll’s position as third favorite demonstrates the steep drop after the two stars. Rattle N Roll did impressively win the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup on Jan. 25 but has not captured a Grade 1 since October 2021. Trained by Kenny McPeek, Rattle N Roll was partially purchased by Saudi connections earlier this winter to run in the Saudi Cup and Dubai World Cup. Facteur Cheval, a Group 1 turf winner owned by Team Valor International and Gary Barber, made his dirt debut last month at Meydan, and while not hapless, checked in a fading third in the Al Maktoum Challenge. That race’s winner, Walk of Stars, stands in for his Bhupat Seemar-trained stablemate Laurel River. He’ll be part of the pace, but it will take more than the B team to beat the two Saudi Cup stars. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.