“We were very proud of his effort and he came out of the race in good order,” trainer Brad Cox said by phone Monday. “So we packed him up, he landed safely in Dubai, and we are leaning towards the Godolphin Mile.”

The grey colt saw out nine furlongs well enough to take out last year's GI Pennsylvania Derby, and although well-beaten in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, rebounded with a strong victory in the GIII Louisiana S. to punch his ticket to Riyadh. Hard-sent to the lead in the Saudi Cup, Saudi Crown covered the opening 800 meters in :46.01–with no run-up–and held on stubbornly to be right in the finish. But it will be less distance and not more on Mar. 30.

“When you're running against the best horses in the world,” Cox said, “we think that the answer to that question is to run him over a mile.”

Among the horses he could face is defending champion Isolate (Mark Valeski), a meritorious sixth in the Saudi Cup.

Saudi Crown!!
Points The Godolphin Mile @DubaiWorldCup @RacingDubai
Let's Goo Champ!! pic.twitter.com/nZW3xiNCVW

— FMQ Stables, Inc. (@FMQStables) February 26, 2024

As a result of his outstanding third-place effort behind Japan's Remake (Jpn) (Lani) and top American sprinter Skelly (Practical Joke) in Saturday's G3 Riyadh Dirt Sprint, Pantofel Stable, Adam Wachtel and Gary Barber's Bold Journey (Hard Spun) has been invited to run in the G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen Mar. 30. The 5-year-old arrived in the Emirates in good order Monday, Wachtel said.

“He came out of the race in good order, little bit scraped up, there was a little collision there at the gate, but nothing at all serious,” Wachtel said of the Bill Mott trainee.

The New York-bred, who was briefly on the Triple Crown trail in 2022, has found his best form over six furlongs, and won three straight in the Big Apple in late fall and early winter, including the GIII Fall Highweight H. Nov. 24 and the Dec. 30 Gravesend S. He settled well back in the run in the Riyadh Dirt Sprint, as Skelly locked horns with the top Saudi-based sprinter Rebellious Stage (Justify), but came with a solid rally nearer the inside to fill third spot, beaten three lengths for all of it.

“We thought if he performed well he might get an invite and that it might make some sense for a couple of reasons: we are already kind of there and we established that he is a serious sprinter,” Wachtel said. “I feel like he's improving and he did us very proud and I think he earned the right to run in a race like [the Golden Shaheen].”

Wachtel is looking forward to the opportunity, even if pre-existing commitments will mean he will be in abstentia.

Bold Journey and Saudi Crown galloping in Riyadh | Horsephotos

“We're pretty excited about it, he seems to be turning into the horse we'd hoped he would,” Wachtel said. “I don't know if he's good enough to do what he just did in Dubai, but we think it's a great move. I hope that at the end of the year, we're in the conversation as one of the best sprinters in the country.  Hopefully he'll take to Dubai as he did to Saudi Arabia and he'll come running down the lane.”

The Wachtel part-owned and Mott-conditioned Long On Value (Value Plus) missed by a zop in the 2017 G1 Al Quoz Sprint, while Gray Magician (Graydar), also campaigned by Wachtel in partnership, completed a U.S.-bred 1-2 behind Plus Que Parfait (Point of Entry) in the 2019 G2 UAE Derby.

Skelly, a game second after making the running last Saturday, is booked on a Chicago-bound flight this coming Thursday and will therefore pass on the Golden Shaheen, trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday.

“I thought he gave it a great effort. We want to get him back in a winning spot and there is a valuable spot at Oaklawn to do just that,” Asmussen said, likely referring to the $500,000 GIII Count Fleet Sprint H. Apr. 13. “We were very proud of his effort, but we thought it was very important to get him back winning and he's won seven in a row at Oaklawn. If he had won, we would probably have gone on, but he didn't, so we'll bring him back home.”

Asmussen indicated that the same two-race sequence in the Middle East in a strong possibility for 2025.

Among those also returning to the states are Saudi Cup fourth National Treasure (Quality Road) to point for a summer campaign; narrow Saudi Derby runner-up Book'em Danno (Bucchero), who is reportedly headed to the $600,000 GII Pat Day Mile on the Kentucky Derby undercard May 4; and White Abarrio (Race Day), 10th in the Saudi Cup who has a repeat in the GI Whitney S. as a long-term objective.

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“He's a great work horse,” trainer Brad Cox said Sunday. “He's continued to do the same here at the Fair Grounds in preparing for the Pegasus. He looked fantastic this morning. We actually took him to the track today [jogging a mile Sunday] because we're due some cold weather in the next few days and we may miss a day of training. But overall, super pleased with how he's moving and how he physically looks and how he is acting. I think he's set up for a big run to start his 4-year-old season.”

First Mission earned a spot in the GI Preakness S. last year with a win in the GIII Stonestreet Lexington S., but missed the second leg of the Triple Crown due to injury. He returned with an allowance win at Keeneland in October and is coming off a narrowly beaten runner-up effort in the Nov. 24 GII Clark S.

The Cox-trained GI Pennsylvania Derby winner Saudi Crown (Always Dreaming), another Pegasus invitee, also worked five furlongs at Fair Grounds Saturday, covering the distance in 1:00.20 (3/51). Owned by the Saudi-based FMQ Stables, the 4-year-old is entered in Saturday's GIII Louisiana S. as a prep for the Feb. 24 Saudi Cup in Riyadh, according to Cox.

Working for the Pegasus at Gulfstream Park Sunday, last year's GIII Smarty Jones S. winner Il Miracolo (Gun Runner) went five furlongs in 1:00.92 (5/11) with jockey Javier Castellano in the irons for trainer Antonio Sano.

“He went really good. I liked the way he did it today,” Castellano said. “He did it in good time and galloped out beautiful.”

Il Miracolo was third in the Pennsylvania Derby, a narrowly beaten second in the Oct. 28 GII Fayette S. and third in the Clark.

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Employing the same tactics used successfully earlier in the program over the sealed track, Saudi Crown exited Post 3 in good order, sprinting to the front as the quartet of Scotland (Good Magic), West Coast Cowboy (West Coast), Magic Tap (Tapit) and Reincarnate (Good Magic) surveyed from a length behind through a :23 opening quarter. Still coasting in front after a :47 1/5 half-mile, the Brad Cox trainee appeared to be keeping up the tempo as Il Miracolo (Gun Runner) and Magic Tap started to amp up the pressure turning for home while Dreamlike (Gun Runner) started to close from the back, several paths off the rail. With Florent Geroux riding the green colt with a firm hand in the final sixteenth, the pricey yearling purchase Dreamlike closed with purpose late, however, came up a half-length short at the wire. Il Miracolo was six lengths back in third.

“He broke super sharp. I was almost like a good length and a half in front, so when you break that sharp, it allows you to take a better position instead of breaking flat-footed or a step slow,” said Geroux. “He broke like a rocket and from there I thought I was in a great spot. Reincarnate, being so far outside, I thought it gave me an extra second and a half to slow it down in the beginning. I didn't see the fraction, what was it, :47? [:47.27]..Pretty good huh?”

Added Cox, “Right before he straightened up, I saw his ears going back and forth and I thought this horse is looking around a little bit. He kind of got a little lost. Florent said he was looking around a little bit when he came back to the winner's circle. He is still lightly raced and he had re-engage a bit and push him along.”

The 3-year-old is campaigned by Faisal M. Alqahtani of FMQ Sables, which has been involved in U.S. racing for one year.

A winner of his first two starts, including a 6 1/2-furlong test at Churchill Downs May 21, the OBS April graduate came up a nose short in the one-mile GIII Dwyer S. at Belmont July 1 and was beaten again by the same margin by juvenile champion Forte (Violence) in a sloppy renewal of the nine-furlong GII Jim Dandy S. July 29.

After two narrow losses, what made the difference today?

“Just progression. In the Dwyer, he had come off a 6 1/2-furlong [win] and was stretching out to a mile. He went up the backstretch a little quick that day but overall finished up well. He was passed and he came back and lost the bob. The last time out, he got beat a nose by a champion in his first run around two turns. We have asked a lot out of him in last two runs and I think he gained a lot of experience and has been battle-tested in his last two runs.”

And the speed-favoring nature of the track was also a factor, according to Cox.

“Based on what we saw throughout the day, I thought we had to be aggressive,” he said. “Sometimes, you see that and everyone has the same idea. He has enough natural speed to break clear off and he did and Flo did a great job.”

What next for Saudi Crown?

“He could be in the Classic,” said Cox. “Based off the pedigree, by Derby winner [Always Dreaming] out of a Tapit mare, with his physical deal, he could handle the mile and a quarter. Obviously, you have to get the right setup. I am not sure he has to have the lead in order to win. He is a pretty kind horse who breaks well. I will tell you this, with his Saudi-based ownership group–great guys to work with and for–I think the Saudi Cup is one race that is definitely on the target as well.”

Pedigree Notes
Saudi Crown gives his Kentucky Derby-winning sophomore sire Always Dreaming his first graded and Grade I stakes winner. The winner is out of the unraced mare New Narration, a daughter of Grade III winner New Normal (Forestry), and a granddaughter of Dual graded stakes winning New Economy (Red Ransom). This represents the family of Grade I winner Noble's Promise (Cuvee).

rday, Parx
PENNSYLVANIA DERBY-GI, $1,000,000, Parx Racing, 9-23, 3yo, 1 1/8m, 1:50.62, sy.
1–SAUDI CROWN, 120, c, 3, by Always Dreaming
                1st Dam: New Narration, by Tapit
                2nd Dam: New Normal, by Forestry
                3rd Dam: New Economy, by Red Ransom
   1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN, 1ST GRADE I
   WIN. ($45,000 Ylg '21 KEEJAN; $240,000 2yo '22 OBSAPR).
O-FMQ Stables; B-Chc Inc. (KY); T-Brad H. Cox; J-Florent
Geroux. $546,000. Lifetime Record: 5-3-2-0, $817,085. Werk
   Nick Rating: A+. Click for eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Dreamlike, 120, c, 3, Gun Runner–Time to Tap, by Tapit.
1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($975,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP). O-Repole
Stable and St. Elias Stable; B-Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC (KY);
T-Todd A. Pletcher. $182,000.
3–Il Miracolo, 124, c, 3, Gun Runner–Tapit's World, by Tapit.
1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($75,000 Ylg '21 KEEJAN; $190,000 RNA Ylg '21 FTKOCT; $70,000 2yo '22 OBSOPN). O-Eduardo Soto; B-Willow Oaks Stable LLC (KY); T-Antonio Sano. $91,000.
Margins: HF, 6, NK. Odds: 1.10, 7.80, 25.10.
Also Ran: Magic Tap, Crupi, Reincarnate, Gilmore, Daydreaming Boy, West Coast Cowboy, Scotland, Modern Era.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

SAUDI CROWN (Always Dreaming) is KING in the GI @betPARX Pennsylvania Derby, leading every step of the way and outlasting a late challenge from Dreamlike to earn his first career Grade I victory! #PADerby pic.twitter.com/SF81cpfnXa

— TDN (@theTDN) September 23, 2023

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#8 Saudi Crown found another gear in R6 at Keeneland under @flothejock and breaks his maiden first time out!

Trained by @bradcoxracing, the Always Dreaming colt went off at 5/1 to kick off the Late Pick-4. #TwinSpiresReplay pic.twitter.com/ZmX2dsLyWI

— TwinSpires Racing (@TwinSpires) April 16, 2023

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