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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