White Abarrio tops 14-horse field expected for Saudi Cup

Breeders’ Cup Classic winner White Abarrio heads the 14 horses expected to start Feb. 24 in the $20 million Saudi Cup, though he is just one leading light in a dazzling lineup.

The Saudi Cup, a one-turn race over 1,800 meters, which is about 1 1/8 miles, also is expected to draw the American horses National Treasure, who comes off a win in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup last month at Gulfstream Park. Senor Buscador, second in the Pegasus and second last fall in the Grade 2 Cigar Mile, also runs, as does Hoist the Gold, who won the Cigar Mile, and Saudi Crown, a Grade 1-winner last year at age 3 and an easy victor of the Louisiana Stakes, his Saudi Cup prep last month at Fair Grounds.

The Saudi Cup announced the expected starters in a news release Friday.

The richest race in the world has more than merely American depth, with Breeders’ Cup Classic runner-up Derma Sotogake another expected runner along with fellow Japanese dirt start Ushba Tesoro, winner of the 2023 Dubai World Cup and fifth in the BC Classic.

Luxembourg, beaten a nose by the excellent Romantic Warrior on Dec. 10 at Sha Tin in the $4.6 million Hong Kong Cup, is set to make his dirt debut after traveling from Ireland for trainer Aidan O’Brien.

Three other Japanese horses are among those expected to start, and the Saudi Cup also will include Defunded, sold to Saudi Arabian interests last year after campaigning in America for trainer Bob Baffert.

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