 Dick Powell | |
|---|---|
| Dick Powell has over 35 years working in the horse racing industry and is an international racing and handicapping expert. He worked for AmWest Entertainment and developed easy to use past performances and results charts that included pari-mutuel prices. He also set the morning line for Dubai International Racing Carnival and still does it for the Saudi Cup. | |
King Abdulaziz Racecourse – Track Analysis (Saudi Cup Day):
King Abdulaziz Racecourse opened in 2003 with a 2000m dirt track. The races are run counter-clockwise (left-handed) with most races run around one turn. The track is 25m wide with gentle, sweeping turns. It is comprised of sand, silt, clay and organic material. Many of the world’s best jockeys rave about the lack of kickback which enables them to race behind others. Unless there is the rare rainstorm, it should be rated as Good/Fast. The turf course, inside the dirt track, was installed in 2020 and is 1800m in length. It is 21m wide and has a similar homestretch as the dirt track. Because of the way it is constructed, it provides plenty of cushion to the horses with all running styles able to handle it.
This year, three turf races and three dirt races from the Saudi Cup Day will be simulcast to Hong Kong.
The G3 Neom Turf Cup is run at 2100m around two turns. It starts on the homestretch, 300m from the finish line and then makes one lap around the turf course. With the long run into the first turn, barriers should not be an issue but as always, saving ground on the turf course makes sense. In 2022, AUTHORITY dominated on the front end and showed the others that you can make all and win on this course.
The G3 1351m 1351 Turf Sprint starts on the backstretch at the end of the first turn giving the runners plenty of time to sort themselves out. The distance has favored horses racing off the pace since big fields put plenty of pressure on the horses up front. Middle barriers have the advantage as it seems to be more beneficial to be clear than get held up in traffic. Japanese raider SONGLINE, with Christophe Lemaire on saddle, stayed in the midfield all the way, finished strongly and beat America’s CASA CREED last year.
The G3 Red Sea Turf Handicap is a 3000m turf marathon that begins on the backstretch 1200m from the finish line. When the runners hit the finish line for the first time, there is a full lap of 1800m to go. In 2022, Christophe Lemaire put Japanese runner STAY FOOLISH on the lead and never looked back. Tired horses in the homestretch just can’t make up the ground that the frontrunners have opened up.
The G3 Saudi Derby is run at 1600m and starts at the back of the chute adjoining the top of the backside with 800m to the turn. Barriers do not seem to matter as PINEHURST won from gate 11 and SEKIFU finished second from gate 12 in 2022. All three previous winners raced forwardly and already had the lead midway around the turn.
The G3 Riyadh Dirt Sprint is run at 1200m with a relatively short run into the turn. Different running styles have been successful and barriers have not been relevant. COPANO KICKING and DANCING PRINCE were both Japanese trained and won the race in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
The feature race, G1 Saudi Cup is the world’s richest horse race at USD 20,000,000 and is run at 1800m on the dirt. Since the runners will break from half way of the chute, with a long run into the turn, barriers are not an issue. The homestretch is over 400m and there is little bias to running style or position. Last year’s winner, the locally owned and trained EMBLEM ROAD, rallied from way back on the far outside to get up in time, setting off an earth-shattering celebration. MISHRIFF won the year before by stalking the pace and running down CHARLATAN in the final yards.
The weather forecast is for temps to reach a high of 27 on both Friday and Saturday, 1% humidity and 0% chance of rain. Therefore, the dirt track should be listed as Fast and the turf should be Firm/Good.
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