11 Strikes And You’re Out Of Luck: Egan Socked With $75,000 Fine For Overuse Of Whip In Saudi Cup Victory

Jockey David Egan, the 21-year-old who guided Mishriff to a surprise victory over Charlatan in Saturday's $20-million Saudi Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, will have to forfeit 10% of his slice of the $10-million winner's purse for violating the country's whip rules, according to HorseRacingPlanet.com.

The website reports Egan exceeded the Saudi Jockey Club's 10-strike limit, leading to both a two-day riding suspension and a fine of an estimated $75,000.

Stipendiary steward Phil Tuck told HorseRacingPlanet.com: “We took into account that two hits were down the shoulder in the backhand position and considered that he used the whip 11 times behind the saddle. He had 10% of his prize-money deducted.”

The website also reports that Charlatan's jockey, Hall of Famer Mike Smith, was suspended two days for allegedly interfering with Sleepy Eyes Todd about 100 meters from the start of the one-turn, nine-furlong race. Smith was hit with a nine-day ban and heavy fine in the inaugural running of the Saudi Cup in 2020, having to lose approximately $210,000, or 60% of his earnings from Midnight Bisou's second-place finish.

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Gosden-Trained Mishriff Upsets Charlatan To Win Saudi Cup

The second edition of the Saudi Cup was billed as a battle between Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup winner Knicks Go and G1 Malibu winner Charlatan, but John Gosden-trained Mishriff, an Irish-bred 4-year-old colt by Make Believe who won last year's G1 French Derby, stole the show on Saturday, running down the Bob Baffert-trained, Mike Smith-ridden Charlatan in deep stretch to win by about one length under 21-year-old David Egan.

Saudi-based Great Scott finished third in the one-turn, 1 1/8-mile dirt race, with Knicks Go fourth after pushing Charlatan throughout and taking a brief lead into the far turn. The Brad Cox-trained Knicks Go was followed by Miguel Angel Silva-trained Sleepy Eyes Todd.

Mishriff paid $41.60 on a $2 wager in American pools for the Saudi Cup.

Mishriff, whose only previous race on dirt came when second in the 2020 Saudi Derby, was winning for the fifth time in nine career starts. He is owned by Prince AA Faisal. Mishriff was beaten 2 1/4 lengths by Japanese-trained Full Flat in the 2020 Saudi Derby, coming into that race off a 10-length maiden score in his third career start as a 2-year-old the previous November at Nottingham in England.

Coming out of the Saudi Derby, Mishriff won a Newmarket stakes in June, then proved 1 3/4 lengths the best in the G1 Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) at Chantilly July 5. After a G2 stakes victory at Deauville, he finished a disappointing eighth in the G1 Champion Stakes at Ascot on Oct. 17. That was last race going into the Saudi Cup.

Charlatan darted to the front from the nine post in the 14-horse field, getting the jump on Knicks Go and Joel Rosario, who broke from the five post. Mishriff settled in just behind the top pair in the run down the backstretch, with Bill Mott-trained Tacitus up close and toward the inside.

Into the turn, Knicks Go poked his head in front, but Charlatan was not finished, re-gaining the lead as the field wound their way around the turn. At the top of the stretch, Knicks Go began to retreat, but Mishriff swung to Charlatan's outside and took dead aim on the leader. Despite running down the stretch on his left lead, Mishriff wore down Charlatan, taking a narrow advantage with 100 meters to run and gradually edged away.

The Saudi Cup was run under unusually cool, damp conditions at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday.

This was the second running of what is billed as the world's richest race, offering a $20-million purse, with $10 million going to the winner. The first-place prize money from the inaugural running, won by Maximum Security, has not been paid due to the criminal charges against the horse's trainer, Jason Servis, in the United States that were filed just over a week after his victory in Saudi Arabia. Prince Bandar, head of the Saudi Cup, said in a television interview with commentator Nick Luck he hopes the purse situation will be settled in about six weeks.

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Rispoli, Velazquez, Stevens Won’t Make Saudi Cup After Travel Headaches

Umberto Rispoli, John Velazquez, and retired rider-turned-broadcaster Gary Stevens will not make this year's Saudi Cup after a series of travel headaches benched Stevens and Rispoli and have left Velazquez stranded in Spain. The Thoroughbred Daily News reports that initially, the trio arrived at airports Wednesday to discover their tickets had been cancelled. They were told the Saudi travel team had accidentally double booked the second leg of their journeys and when the extra booking was cancelled, the first leg was automatically cancelled.

Stevens, Rispoli, and Joel Rosario rebooked flights for Thursday and were sitting on the plane in California when they were informed they would not be allowed to travel to their final destination after all. Saudi officials are requiring a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of arrival into Riyadh and because they didn't leave as scheduled, they were told their tests had expired. Rosario was able to remain en route after he showed the results of a rapid test he had taken after the previous day's delay. Stevens and Rispoli were told they could have been allowed to go to their layover in Qatar, but would not have been allowed to board a plane to Riyadh from there.

Velazquez, meanwhile, made it out of Miami and to his layover in Spain before he was told he couldn't proceed due to the same test timing issue. Agent Ron Anderson told the TDN Velazquez was stopped from changing planes and told he could be incarcerated for leaving the terminal he'd arrived in due to COVID-19 restrictions.

William Buick will now be aboard Tacitus, and Miguel Barcelona will ride Max Player in the Saudi Cup.

 

Read more at Thoroughbred Daily News

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Saudi Cup: More Prize Money For 2021, No News Yet On Maximum Security Purse Payout

With the result of the 2020 Saudi Cup, won by Maximum Security, still under scrutiny, next year's event has been launched with a new date and more prize-money.

The two-day meeting, which showcases the $20 million world's richest horse race, has been moved forward a week to Feb. 19 and 20, 2021 and total prize-money for the eight-race card raised to $30.5 million from $29.2 million.

Yet still overshadowing the inaugural running of the Saudi Cup, in which Maximum Security defeated Midnight Bisou and Benbatl, is the controversial aftermath involving the the winner's then-trainer Jason Servis.

Servis was subsequently charged in the United States – alongside a number of others, including fellow trainer Jorge Navarro – with participating in manufacturing, distributing and administering misbranded substances to horses.

He has pleaded not guilty and Maximum Security, jointly owned by Gary and Mary West and the Coolmore partnership, has been moved to Bob Baffert.

However following the developments the Saudi Jockey Club launched its own investigation and has withheld the distribution of the $10 million first prize money until inquiries have been concluded.

The issue was addressed by Prince Bandar Bin Khalid Al Faisal, chairman of the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia, at the 2021 Saudi Cup launch on Tuesday.

He said: “This is a very unusual situation, not something any of us predicted but it has happened. On a personal level I am quite emotional about this because I was really rooting for that horse after what it went through in the Kentucky Derby [in 2019, in which he finished first but was disqualified for interference].

“We are where we are and we have to have races based on our own rules and regulations. The prize money will be paid out. We have covered all prize money regarding the whole two days of the meet and Maximum Security is the only pending situation unfortunately.

“We are at the mercy of what's happening legally in the U.S. We understand they are addressing this. COVID-19 has not helped them move things along. I have seen some movement in the past weeks regarding this, and it will be resolved one way or another. Someone will be paid out this money, the question is who.

“I am personally very encouraged that the US is taking a more active and visible stance against prohibited drugs. I am very disappointed it affected the most important horse to us, the one that won the race.

“We are looking more in the range of a couple of weeks to two months maximum before this is closed on their end and then we can move on.”

The 2020 Saudi Cup has been rated the best dirt race run in the world over the last 12 months by Thoroughbred Racing Commentary, which Prince Bandar described as “an honor”.

Whether next year's race can take place at the King Abdulaziz racetrack outside Riyadh with fans present is uncertain.

“It's hard to overstate the success of Saudi Cup 2020 when you consider that in year one of a brand-new international racing event, we attracted some of the very best horses, trainers and jockeys in the world,” he said.

“We witnessed 22 individual Group or Grade 1 winners, who had accumulated an impressive 34 wins at that level between them. That would be an excellent statistic for even the most well-established race meetings in the world, let alone to have that calibre in year one.

“The only unknown factor is what is happening with COVID-19. We are quite confident this event will run very smoothly. The big question mark is will the global situation allow for spectators to come and enjoy this event or will it be a made for TV event and that is something none of us can answer at this point. We will take direction from the health authorities and go from there.”

Next year's card will remain an eight-race event with the Saudi Derby, the 3-year-old only dirt race in which Japan's Full Flat beat the subsequent French Derby winner Mishriff, the chief beneficiary of the purse increases, its value rising to $1.5 million from $800,000.

The International Jockeys Challenge, held the Friday before Saudi Cup, in which Lisa Allpress became the first woman to win a race in Saudi Arabia in 2020, will again feature 14 of the world's best jockeys, seven women, five international men and two Saudi-based jockeys, compete for a championship purse of $100,000 and 15 percent of prize money.

According to Prince Bandar there were now four women trainers operating in the kingdom and two female jockeys had started to ride on secondary tracks.

This article was originally published by Horse Racing Planet and is reprinted here with permission. Find more content like this at their website.

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