'Our strategy is to make Najd Stud a global brand' - Saudi operation aims big

There is plenty at stake in Riyadh on Saturday, when the world’s richest race, the $20 million Saudi Cup takes centre stage, but also long-term importance for Prince Faisal bin Khalid bin Abdulaziz and his Najd Stud.

The red and white silks of the owner are well represented on the card, including with big-money buy Grocer Jack in the Neom Turf Cup and homebred Alnaader in the Saudi Derby, with the pair potentially significant pathfinders.

Grocer Jack topped the Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale at 700,000gns in October, when Najd Stud was leading buyer with 14 purchases for an aggregate 2,791,000gns, and the entire five-year-old bids to kickstart his owner’s partnership with William Haggas.

Three-year-old colt Alnaader, meanwhile, trained by Abdullah Mishref Al Kahtani, is a stallion prospect for Najd Stud, whose sire, the Juddmonte-bred Teletext, is one of five stallions based in Saudi Arabia, along with 120 broodmares.

Najd Stud is very much looking beyond its home borders and to the future, however, as Saud Al Qahtani, the public face of the operation in Newmarket last autumn, outlined on Friday.

“Prince Faisal is starting to build a new foundation in Europe, with mares and buying yearlings and we hope to produce some nice horses for him to run in England and France,” he said.

“We have three mares in Europe right now, in England, one in foal to Frankel, one in foal to Almanzor and the other had a filly by Eqtidaar. They’ll stay there and we will try to produce a good horse from them. If they are good enough to stay in Europe, that’s fine, otherwise we can bring them here.

Saud Al Qahtani: spoke of plans for Najd Stud on the eve of the Saudi Cup meetingCredit: Laura Green

“We don’t have our own facility in Newmarket, we use different stud farms, and also in France. One of our goals is to have our own farm in the next three or four years. Inshallah, we can be one of the big names in five or six years.

“Our strategy is to make Najd Stud, which has been going for four years so far, a global brand and we’ll start, inshallah, in September to do things as well in America."

He added: “To buy a very good horse is very difficult. If you try to buy a Group 1 winner in America or Europe, there’s only one reason why anyone will sell and that’s to go to stud as a stallion. For racing, nobody will sell.

“Our goal is to breed our own horses to compete in big races, here, in Australia, Dubai, Europe, America, everywhere.”

In the meantime, it is sale recruit Grocer Jack who has perhaps the best prospects of providing Prince Faisal with a winner on Saturday, being a general 14-1 chance for his Group 3 mission. He already has wins at that level in Germany and Italy on his CV, and the hope is he could be good enough to contest Group 1s in 2022.

“Grocer Jack is doing very well,” reported Al Qahtani. “William thinks the horse will do good this year, and he's in the hands of one of the top trainers in England.”

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