Fourteen horses were entered Wednesday for the second renewal of the $20 million Saudi Cup on Saturday at King Abdulaziz Racecourse outside Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Even with well-backed McKinzie failing to fire, American-based horses dominated the 2020 Saudi Cup, finishing first, second, fourth, and fifth, and this year’s American shippers, led by Knicks Go and Charlatan, are widely considered the principal players again this year.

Stakes racing abounds on the Thursday seven-race card at Meydan, with five group races included on the seven-race card.

The Group 2, $163,000 Zabeel Mile over 1,600 meters on turf looks like the deepest of the stakes, with a competitive field of 11 entered. Two horses look best here, with Art Du Val rating an edge over Epic Hero.

Class 3 handicaps, four of them, abound on the Happy Valley card on Wednesday in Hong Kong.

Races 5, 6, 8, and 9 all are Class 3s for horses rated 80-60. The eighth and ninth are contested over 1,200 meters, race 5 is 1,650 meters, all standard Happy Valley distances, but race 6 is an unusual one, 2,200 meters around three turns.

By Declan Schuster

Derek Leung has been in fine form recently with five wins from the last three race meetings and this Wednesday (17 February) at Happy Valley he is looking to maintain his momentum with a full book of nine rides as he eyes a new personal best.

“I will do my best (to beating his personal best), why not? The horses that I am riding and the new horses coming through have a good future, I think I will do even better in the second half of the season - it’s my target to set a new personal best,” Leung said.

R1 8-12-7-10
R2 2-8-4-10
R3 1-9-4-11
R4 7-5-10-11
R5 1-3-6-8
R6 7-3-11-8
R7 4-3-6-12
R8 8-1-9-3
R9 3-2-11-5

Best Bet R7 N4 V Chevaliers
Long Shot R4 N7 Mercurial
Play R7 QQP 3-4-6

Tom Wood:

R1: 8-7-9-12
R2: 2-5-8-7
R3: 4-3-11-1
R4: 5-7-1-11
R5: 1-3-5-6
R6: 3-7-11-8
R7: 3-1-4-12
R8: 1-3-8-11
R9: 2-11-5-10

Marway has won his last two races, although they came nine months apart. Most recently he won a five-furlong handicap at Warwick Farm on Jan. 26, closing from third in a field of eight to win by about a neck.

Between those last two races, he was transferred from trainer John O’Sing to Mark Newnham, who is based at Randwick.

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Monday at King Abdulaziz Racecourse was work day for the American horses in Saudi Arabia for Saturday’s $20 million Saudi Cup.

Knicks Go, Charlatan, Sleepy Eyes Todd, and Max Player all turned in breezes for the Saudi Cup. Tacitus, the other American horse that shipped for the race, might have a blowout on Tuesday but didn’t work Monday, his trainer, Bill Mott said. Mott also shipped Channel Maker for a start in the $1 million Middle Distance Turf Cup, while Max Player’s trainer, Steve Asmussen, sent Cowan for the $1.5 million Saudi Derby.

HAPPY VALLEY SELECTIONS
(Wednesday, February 17, 2021)

Glassey Miss had the best span of her three-season career from late June to New Year’s Eve in Australia, winning three of five starts. During that span, Glassey Miss won handicaps at six furlongs once and at seven furlongs twice.

Glassey Miss was fifth of 11 in a handicap at Moonee Valley Racecourse in Melbourne on Jan 15 in her lone start this year. Despite the setback, Glassey Miss looks well placed in a handicap at a mile at Swan Hill Racecourse, well north of Melbourne, on Tuesday.

The lightly raced filly Starspangled Baby and the veteran mare Rendelsham meet for the first time in a handicap at 1 1/16 miles at Stony Creek Racecourse in Australia on Monday.

As of Saturday, they were the 8-5 co-favorites in early betting, by far the shortest prices in a field of nine.

A 3-year-old, Starspangled Baby beat maidens in her fourth start at Sale Racecourse on Jan. 31 in a race at 1 1/16 miles. Leading throughout, Starspangled Baby won by three-quarters of a length. The Sale race was the first time Starspangled Baby had set the pace.