Slower, softer surface adds to challenge U.S. horses face in Saudi Cup

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – It makes sense to believe the five American dirt horses in the $20 million Saudi Cup hold a built-in advantage. After all, the Saudi Cup is dirt, which is what American horses still do best.

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However, the main track at King Abdulaziz Racetrack is perhaps unlike any on which they have raced. The early speed produced by Maximum Security and McKinzie might be less advantageous in the Saudi desert compared to in California or New York.

Jason Servis did his homework before arriving in Riyadh on Tuesday, and the trainer of Maximum Security is aware of the challenge his 4-year-old faces at King Abdulaziz.

“I was looking at some of the charts, and the times were slow, I thought,” Servis said at a Wednesday press conference. “I saw a mile in 1:39. I don’t have a crystal ball, but I would say [the track] is probably going to favor closers.”

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That does not mean Maximum Security is a bet-against. It only means that before bettors back a favorite in the 1 1/8-mile Saudi Cup or any of the undercard dirt stakes it probably is a good idea to recognize the nuances of the King Abdulaziz surface.

Track superintendent Bob Turman agrees with Servis – the main track is not quick.

“Yes, it’s a little bit slower, but it’s a ‘kind’ slow,” Turman said. “It’s so soft.”

It certainly is quiet. In workout hours during Saudi Cup week, horses are virtually silent while breezing and galloping. Less noise typically equates to less concussion and slower times than a harder, faster track in North America.

Turman, former track superintendent in Northern California and track superintendent in Saudi Arabia for seven years, said the soft track and slow times are deliberate.

“We have a finer sand, and we keep our silt and clay lower than the California tracks do,” Turman said. “Seventy percent of our track is medium to fine sand, with an organic component that kind of holds things together and holds moisture. And we have a little bit deeper cushion, a 3 1/2-inch cushion.”

Like handicappers, Turman keeps track-profile records to monitor running styles of winners. Finer sand, with less silt and clay, produces less kickback. It means late-runners are not discouraged as is often the case on tracks with high kickback and clods.

According to Turman, 46 percent of the main-track winners there rallied from sixth position or farther back. Front-runners and pressers won 54 percent.

“It’s almost 50-50,” he said.

In other words, the track is fair to all styles and produces a higher percentage of deep-closing winners than what is typical in America.

The track at King Abdulaziz also is safe.

“We’ve had three catastrophic injuries in the last seven months of training and five months of racing,” Turman said. “That is with 6,500 starters and 800 horses that train here every day.”

(Daily Racing Form this week mistakenly reported a lower number of horses that train there daily.)

Maximum Security and McKinzie, Saudi Cup favorites with speed, might run away from the field simply because they are the fastest and best horses. However, a slower surface with less kickback could prove a built-in advantage for any of the other 12 expected to race Saturday night under the lights at King Abdulaziz.

Baffert horses school

McKinzie and Mucho Gusto, stablemates trained by Bob Baffert, gate-schooled and galloped Wednesday at King Abdulaziz. McKinzie was out first at 7:15 a.m. under Jose Contreras. Mucho Gusto schooled at 9 a.m. He loaded into the gate, was backed out, reloaded, and went out the front.

Baffert arrived in Riyadh early Wednesday morning after a sandstorm delayed his layover flight from Dubai.

* The Saudi Cup will be shown live on FS1 as part of a broadcast that begins at noon Eastern.