Saudi Cup winners back in action on King Faisal Cup Day

Commissioner King won the G3 Saudi Derby on Saudi Cup night. (JCSA/Erika Rasmussen)

• Commissioner King and Asfan Al Khalediah on card featuring Taif’s 2 biggest races for purebred Arabians
• A victory for Foo De Pine on Saturday would give Collington his first victory in Saudi Arabia

TAIF: Commissioner King, last year’s G3 Saudi Derby winner, returns to action on Saturday, Sept. 2, on a high-profile day of racing at King Khalid Racecourse in Taif, which includes two SR1 million ($266,000) Listed contests, the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Cup and the King Faisal Cup for purebred Arabians.
Commissioner King, the FMQ Stables-owned gelding, won three of his four starts last season, culminating in the $1.5 million Saudi Derby, and lines up under regular rider Luis Morales in the 1,600-meter SR500,000 Taif Cup, presented by Boutique Group, one of four valuable Taif Cup races on the day.
Speaking about Commissioner King’s win in the Saudi Derby, owner Faisal Mohammed Al Alqahtani said: “It was a historic night; a night that I’ll never forget.”
Explaining the preparation Commissioner King has had ahead of his seasonal return and the plans for the campaign ahead, he added: “We have a special program for him. He was off for six months and he has been training gradually since the beginning of the Taif season, but to get fully fit he has to race.
“Most horses start their season in allowance races and then go to the cups, but these are regular horses. He’s way above that.
“Saturday’s race is a cup that of course we want to win, but it’s not the target. We’re taking in this race to get him fit before Riyadh. Then we have some cup races planned for him before he goes to the Saudi Cup.
“If you go back to Commissioner King’s debut in Taif, he ran a fabulous race, so I think he loves the track.”
Another of last season’s Saudi Cup winners, Asfan Al Khalediah, who won the G2 Al Mneefah Cup on Saudi Cup weekend and was also the winner of last season’s King Faisal Cup, recently returned this season with a win, and bids to preserve his perfect eight-from-eight career record in the Listed Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Cup over 2,000 meters.
The King Faisal Cup, the other Listed race on the card, offers Athbah Stables the chance to shine with Foo De Pine, a recent transfer to UK-based trainer Phil Collington from the yard’s Saudi stables run by Lucas Gaitan.
A victory for Foo De Pine on Saturday would give Collington his first victory in Saudi Arabia.
Collington said: “I’ve known Lucas since he started training for Athbah and we’ve had a good relationship with horses passing from the UK to Saudi, and vice versa.
“With his owner Prince Abdulaziz bin Ahmed being from Saudi Arabia, he’s obviously keen to have runners in all the big cup races.
“Foo De Pine came to me as a two-year-old from the owner’s stud in France. He was broken-in in the UK last year and then won a race in Belgium this July before he came out to Saudi Arabia.
“He won over 1,200 meters last time out and has a lot of speed. At the moment 1,600 meters would probably be far enough for him.
“We’ve had winners in eight countries now, so to win in Saudi Arabia and Taif would be great. I actually brought a horse out for the King Faisal Cup last season, but unfortunately he didn’t make the race.
“In the last few years, since the Al Mneefah has been added, the program for Arabian horses in Saudi has got so big. The Obaiya and the Al Mneefah are both very important races.”
Saturday’s card also features the 2,000-meter SR700,000 Okaz Cup, where multiple G1-winning US trainer Jimmy Jerkens will be aiming to record his biggest win since moving to train in Saudi Arabia this summer. Jerkens runs Media Storm, a son of Frankel that was formerly trained in France by Andre Fabre.
Other valuable contests on the card include two two-year-old cup races over 1,400 meters, the Taif Cup and Taif Cup presented by Sports Boulevard, both worth SR400,000.