Saudi Cup undercard dominated by Japanese horses, jockey Christophe Lemaire
The 2021 Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar marked a breakthrough for Japanese horses. Loves Only You won the Filly and Mare Turf, and Marche Lorraine won the Distaff, the first Japan-based winners of Breeders’ Cup races. Yet that was nothing compared to the Japanese domination of stakes races on the Saudi Cup undercard on Saturday at King Abdulaziz Racecourse outside Riyadh.
Stay Foolish went wire to wire in the $2.5 million Red Sea Turf. Authority went wire to wire in the $1.5 million Neom Turf Cup. Dancing Prince went wire to wire in the $1.5 million Riyadh Dirt Sprint. And Songlines held off the American horse Casa Creed in the $1.5 million 1351 Sprint. Christophe Lemaire, remarkably, rode all four Japanese winners.
The Bob Baffert-trained favorite Pinehurst managed to win the $1.5 million Saudi Derby, but even there Pinehurst was hard-pressed to hold off fast-closing Sekifu, still another Japan-based runner, to win by a half-length.
“I can’t believe it but it’s real,” Lemaire said after Dancing Prince’s easy victory in the 1,200-meter [about six furlongs] Riyadh Dirt Sprint.
By this race, the seventh on the card, international bettors had figured out the game. Dancing Prince, trained by Keisuke Miyata, waltzed home a 5 3/4-length winner as the 6-5 favorite, paying $4.60. Dancing Prince, a 6-year-old horse by the Swept Overboard stallion Pas de Trois, has been the fastest dirt sprinter in Japan and was much faster than 13 foes Saturday. He bolted to the lead, came into the homestretch with a length-and-a-half advantage and widened the margin through the final 300 meters, Lemaire hand-riding through the final half-furlong.
The 1 7/8-mile Red Sea Turf was a much longer race on a different surface, but it unfolded similarly to the Dirt Sprint. Stay Foolish ($23.60) took command early and never came close to being threatened, Lemaire guiding him to a 4 1/2-length win over Sonnyboyliston.
Sonnyboyliston is no slouch, either, having captured the Group 1 Irish St. Leger in 2021, but he could not come close to making up ground on Stay Foolish. Favored Siskany also was left reeling by the Japanese horse’s closing kick, finishing a distant third. Stay Foolish, trained by Yoshito Yahagi, is a 7-year-old by the Sunday Silence stallion Stay Gold. He’d most recently finished fifth in the Group 1 Hong Kong Vase – which was won by the Japanese horse, Glory Vase.
Casa Creed, ridden by Luis Saez for trainer Bill Mott, nearly won the 1351 Turf Sprint, closing strongly but coming up a half-length short of Songline, who got the jump on Casa Creed and got home by a half-length. Songline, a 4-year-old filly who got a five-pound weight break from Casa Creed, nearly won the Group 1 NHK Mile Cup last May and had been campaigned as a miler until this winter. She ran a poor race Dec. 25 in the seven-furlong Hanshin Cup, finishing 15th, but improved many, many lengths in the 1351 Sprint, which was contested at 6 3/4 furlongs. Songline, trained by Toru Hayashi, is by the Deep Impact stallion, Kizuna.
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Authority ($6.60) started the Japanese festival with a 1 1/4-length win over 88-1 shot Kaspar in the 1 5/16-mile Neom Turf Cup. It was a straightforward success, Lemaire putting his mount on the lead, Authority seeing off all challengers. Authority, trained by Tetsuua Kimura, was making his first trip abroad. The 5-year-old horse is by Orfevre. The American horse Channel Cat clipped heels in upper stretch of the Neom Turf Cup and fell. His jockey, Joel Rosario, was able to fulfill his later mounts.
Pinehurst ($4.40), Flavien Prat riding for Baffert, raced prominently from the start and opened a clear advantage in upper stretch of the Saudi Derby, a one-turn mile. Sekifu emerged from mid-pack with a furlong and a half to race and made up good ground on Pinehurst, but the finish came before Sekifu made the front. Pinehurst is by Twirling Candy out of Giant Win, by Giant’s Causeway.