Riyadh season ramped up with new series, purse hike
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Japanese globetrotter Forever Young (Ryusei Sakai) made history when he notched a second consecutive win in the Group 1 Saudi Cup (1,800m) at King Abdulaziz racecourse on Feb 14, 2026.
PHOTO: JOCKEY CLUB OF SAUDI ARABIA
RIYADH – The Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia (JCSA) has announced dates for the 2026-2027 Riyadh racing season, along with a number of new innovations highlighted by the introduction of a colts and fillies series.
Getting underway on Oct 16 and concluding on April 17, 2027, the season will now feature the Riyadh Crown Series open to colts, geldings and fillies, a three-leg event for locally bred horses.
The 6 million riyal (S$2 million) series kicks off on Dec 4 with a 500,000 riyal 2YO 1,400m race before the then 3YO competitors take in another 1,400m Open worth 500,000 riyals on Jan 22, 2027.
It then concludes by a step-up in trip to the domestic Group 1 King Abdulaziz Cup (1,600m) with a purse of 5 million riyals on March 12, 2027.
Locally bred fillies will take part in the 1.53 million riyal Riyadh Sword Series which gets underway with the Prince Abdullah Bin Jalawi Cup for 2YOs and worth 300,000 riyals on Dec 5.
The event moves on to the 300,000 riyal 1000 Guineas over 1,400m on Jan 8, 2027 for 3YO fillies.
The Sword Series then reaches its grand finale with the 1,600m Fillies Mile on Saudi Cup day, Feb 6, 2027 which carries a purse of US$250,000 (S$320,000) and is open to both local and imported fillies.
Elsewhere on the programme the usual highlights of the Riyadh season feature prominently, with some significant boosts in prize money.
The Group 3 Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup sees its stakes rise from 1.5m to 2 million riyals and the Listed Crown Prince Cup goes from 1 million to 1.5 million riyals.
The King Saud Cup and the Listed King Faisal Cup are two other features to benefit from a hike in prize money.
Both will undergo an upgrade from 800,000 to 1 million riyals while the Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Cup and the Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Cup are elevated from 700,000 to 800,000 riyals each.
Last but not least, the Listed King Abdulaziz Racecourse Championship purse goes from 300,000 to 500,000 riyals. JOCKEY CLUB OF SAUDI ARABIA
