Saudi Cup breeding implications unknown but Prince Bandar keen for sport to grow

Saudi Arabia can already lay claim to one of the foremost breeding operations, in Juddmonte Farms of Prince Khalid Abdullah, but only time will tell when it comes to what the nation's new $20 million race could mean for the bloodstock industry.

While Purebred Arabian horses are bred successfully in Saudi Arabia, there is no such endeavour when it comes to thoroughbreds. The neighbouring UAE tried to get a thoroughbred breeding industry established - dual Coral-Eclipse and Juddmonte International hero Halling stood there - but the undertaking did not last.

What spin-offs the world's richest race will bring to Saudi Arabia will unfold over cover years, with the $20m Saudi Cup having launched officially only on Wednesday night at Saratoga, with the first running slated for February 29, 2020.

Key to developing the country's profile will be those central to the new race at King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Riyadh, and one such person is HRH Prince Bandar bin Khalid al Faisal, the chairman of the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia.

A media magnate whose business pursuits have included chairing the company that publishes the Al Watan daily newspaper, Prince Bandar admitted to some big-race jitters at the launch party in upstate New York.

“I’m a bit nerve-wracked,” he confessed with a smile after presiding over the promotion of the Saudi Cup at Fasig-Tipton Co’s sale complex.

Many hats

Prince Bandar is involved in many demanding pursuits, with racing just one of them. A minister-ranking advisor at the Royal Court, he also is co-founder and chairman of the board of directors of the Arab Thought Foundation, according to the foundation’s website.

While he is ardent in his advocacy of the Saudi Cup, Prince Bandar emphasised that “this is not my idea” in correcting the way he had been introduced at the launch event, giving credit instead to the entire Jockey Club board of directors, and to King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Others, however, offer a glimpse of how much the initiative is being steered by Prince Bandar.

“Working with Prince Bandar is a great pleasure - he guided the whole thing toward where we are today,” said HRH Prince Abdullah bin Khalid al Saud, who also is heavily involved and attended the launch event.

With his family’s history and his own background as a former racehorse owner, Prince Bandar is well suited to tell the story of Saudi Arabia and its longtime love for horses. And, perhaps due to his work in communications, he does so with some flair.

“My father hates if I say this, but 60 years ago he was a jockey racing in the Kingdom at ten years old,” Prince Bandar related. His father, Prince Khalid al Faisal bin Abdulaziz, is now the governor of Mecca and an advisor to King Salman.

“The way they used to race back then was 4km or 5km [in a] straight line, through valleys, and you’d never see where the race started - you would gather only at the finish line. There were no saddles, just reins, and they just went for it. That’s how it started.

“The late King Abdullah was really the one who transformed horseracing into an industry in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and he was the man behind the facility [the King Abdulaziz Racetrack]."

Long links

But the link to horses goes back further and deeper. As Prince Bandar is quoted in a brochure promoting the Saudi Cup, “my great-grandfather - King Abdulaziz, the founder of Saudi Arabia - was the last military leader in the world to win his battles from the saddle, and my grandfather, who was in his twenties, rode alongside him.

“Then my father was a jockey, can you believe, from the age of nine until his late teens."

Accompanied by a photograph showing him holding the shank of a chestnut horse in a desert landscape, the written statement from Prince Bandar goes on to explain more about the multiple aims behind the development of the Saudi Cup.

“We’re putting on the Saudi Cup in the hope that people who love horses and racing around the world might come and take a closer look at our culture and our country: explore a place they never thought of visiting and perhaps see it anew," he is quoted as saying.

"Over the years, we will be delighted if the Saudi Cup can attract some of the finest horses and become one of the most sought-after races to participate in and watch. I very much look forward to welcoming you to Riyadh."

Racing in the kingdom has been conducted in an organised fashion for about 60 years and typical racing programmes draw many families who watch the horses together, he said at the launch party. Now, however, Jockey Club officials envision a metamorphosis.

“It is very much part of our culture, our heritage, our literature," said Prince Bandar. "But we are very keen to transform it into an industry that can grow - to be at a level on par with the best out there. That is our main focus now at the Jockey Club.

“I think we will have to prove ourselves in the upcoming years; we understand that,” he observed before expressing confidence. “We think we have the right team, the right people. We definitely have one of the best facilities in the world. We have everything going for us.”

Early interest

Gronkowski, the Dubai World Cup runner-up owned by Phoenix Thoroughbreds - whose female ownership branch is involved with Saudi Arabian racing (Phoenix ladies' syndicate expands into Saudi Arabia) - has already been confirmed as a high-profile horse to be targeted at the new race.

When he was asked during the public part of the launch programme about women in Saudi Arabia, Prince Bandar was ready to answer.

“I always get the question about women,” he said. “Oddly enough, horseracing in Saudi Arabia is the oldest sport that included women in it - in fact, equestrian sports as a whole. I know this first hand. We have Olympic women riders in showjumping; my daughter is into showjumping. We do have many Saudi women owners [in racing].

While he said “we have yet to have a Saudi woman jockey,” he added that: “I’m almost certain there are going to be a couple of women riders during that weekend [of the Saudi Cup].”

Prince Bandar said he raced his own horses about 20 years ago but does not now have a stable “because of my position - I have to be impartial".

He added: “Hopefully I will have an opportunity in the future."

Read more on the world's new richest race

The announcement at Saratoga

Target for Gronkowski