True Self rallies to defeat Channel Maker in Neom Turf Cup

True Self, an 8-year-old mare ridden by a female jockey, the Englishwoman Hollie Doyle, rallied from the rear of the field and ran down American champion Channel Maker to win the $1.5 million Neom Turf Cup, the first race on the Saudi Cup card Saturday at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Saudi Arabia.

Emirates Knight, a huge longshot, finished third, 4 3/4 lengths behind Channel Maker, as True Self was the only horse making up much ground. The winner paid $14.60 in North America, where Channel Maker was an odds-on favorite.

The Neom Turf Cup was run over 1 5/16 miles, which is too short for Channel Maker, a true 1 1/2-mile horse, to show his best: Since finishing third in the Kilroe Mile nearly three years ago, Channel Maker is 6-0-0-0 in races at less than 1 1/2 miles. Saturday, breaking from an inside post, he was outrun for the early lead by For the Top, with jockey Joel Rosario switching outside to track the leader around the first turn. Rosario, trying to use Channel Maker’s best weapon – his ability to sustain a strong cruising speed – moved early to take the lead, going to the front with about five furlongs remaining.

Meanwhile, Doyle, who emerged as a real force among English jockeys in 2020, raced very patiently on True Self while saving ground, racing from eighth position down the backstretch and into the final turn. With about three furlongs remaining she engaged her mount, who quickly responded, coming between horses after turning for home and launching a strong bid. Channel Maker had opened daylight, and no one else was closing, but the mare got to the American champion in the final half-furlong and was going away late to win by 1 1/4 lengths.

True Self is based in Ireland with trainer Willie Mullins but is a true international racehorse. Mullins sent the mare to Saudi Arabia a year ago for a sixth-place finish and two years in a row campaigned her as far afield as Australia and Hong Kong. True Self is by the Sadler’s Wells stallion Oscar and out of Good Thought, by Mukaddamah.

Mullins said there were no immediate plans for True Self, but Channel Maker, all being well, goes on to Dubai for a start in the 1 1/2-mile Sheema Classic on March 27.

* Space Blues, the odds-on favorite in North American wagering, ground out a victory in the $1 million Turf Sprint over about 6 3/4 furlongs. Space Blues, under William Buick, had to squeeze between horses in midstretch but once clear came with a steady run that sent him past Dark Power, the Bahrain-based winner of this race in 2020. Charlie Appleby trains Space Blues, a son of Dubawi and Miss Lucifer, by Noverre, for Godolphin.