The DP World Tour reaches the midway point of its Asian Swing when it returns to action with the ISPS HANDA Championship in Japan
The fourth running of the US$20,000,000 Saudi Cup went the way of Japan for the first time courtesy of the Yoshito Yahagi-trained Panthalassa (JPN) as he saw off all challengers for a historic wire-to-wire victory.
It was an evening for the powerful racing nation to rejoice, with Panthalassa’s all the way success under veteran jockey Yutaka Yoshida meaning that Bob Baffert’s American raider Country Grammer (USA) had to once again settle for the runner-up place in Riyadh.
In four renewals, victory in The Saudi Cup has gone to four different nations with the Japanese winner becoming the latest to win the world’s most valuable race, now proving his capability on both dirt and turf.
Yahagi was among the winning trainers last year when Japanese-trained runners claimed four races on the card and the strength of horse racing in the country was confirmed once again on Saturday with three more in front of an appreciative crowd at King Abdulaziz Racecourse.
For the globally popular trainer Yahagi, it was a second winner of the evening, following up from Bathrat Leon’s win in the 1351 Turf Sprint presented by stc. It was also an unforgettable night for owners Hiroo Race Co Ltd, who owned both Yahagi’s winners.
Momentarily in the latter stages it appeared that Japanese runners would fill the first three places, but Country Grammer finished with a flourish down the outside to claim second, half a length adrift, from Cafe Pharoah (JPN) in third with Geoglyph (JPN) and Crown Pride (JPN), both also trained in Japan, finishing fourth and fifth respectively.
Last year's winner Emblem Road (USA) was sixth and the best of the four locally-trained runners. The winning time was 1:50.80.
ALSO READ:
The DP World Tour reaches the midway point of its Asian Swing when it returns to action with the ISPS HANDA Championship in Japan
Classic Trials at Newbury Racecourse’s season open throws up plenty of surprises as HHidden Law wins for Godolphin and Teraabb for Sheikh Ahme
The coach was furious after Lamine Yamal had a shot which Barcelona said crossed the line
A former Emirati rally driver, Ben Sulayem was also cleared by the FIA ethics committee of influencing the results of the Saudi Arabian GP
China's foreign ministry on Monday hit back at the widespread reports, which first emerged in the
Rasmus Hojlund's penalty sent United into the final against Manchester City
The American Olympic icon said he's pleased to see athletes from a range of nations challenging in the sprints at the highest level
The comfortable victory from pole position in Shanghai was Verstappen's fourth in five races in 2024