Rosario on the prowl for second Custodian

RIYADH – Joel Rosario will aim for back-to-back wins in the 1.5 million-riyal (S$515,000) Group 3 The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup – a qualifier for the 2026 Saudi Cup – aboard Ameerat Alzamaan at King Abdulaziz racecourse on Jan 17.

The US-based Dominican rider is one of several high-profile jockeys booked to appear this weekend on a glittering card, with Christophe Soumillon, Mickael Barzalona and Danny Tudhope all jetting into Riyadh and taking on the likes of local champion Adel Alfouraidi.

Rosario scooped the 1,800m dirt trial 12 months ago aboard Rattle N Roll for trainer Kenny McPeek, but will this time don the Red Stable silks of Prince Faisal bin Khaled bin Abdulaziz.

He will partner 2025 1000 Guineas and Fillies’ Mile winner Ameerat Alzamaan, who recently claimed the Group 2 Prince Sultan Ben Abdulaziz Cup (2,000m) under Silvestre de Sousa.

The winner of six of her seven starts is among four Red Stable runners along with 2025’s second and third – Wait To Excel and Wootton’sun – while El Jabartee is the fourth trying to qualify for the US$20 million (S$25.8 million) showpiece on Feb 14.

First run in 2020, the Group 1 Saudi Cup (1,800m) is the world’s richest race, and is the highlight among nine races (eight for thoroughbreds and one for purebred Arabians) on a glittering night at the King Abdulaziz racecourse.

In six editions, the trophy has stayed on local soil once, in 2022, when Emblem Road won for Prince Saud bin Salman Abdulaziz.

Two-time winner Japan was the last country to claim silverware in 2025. Its iconic champion Forever Young just downed global superstar Romantic Warrior in a duel for the ages.

In the 2026 renewal of The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup, Soumillon and Barzalona both compete for the White Stable of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz aboard Lionel and Michael Scofield, who recently fought out the finish to the domestic Group 2 Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz Cup (1,600m).

Michael Scofield (Oisin Murphy) beat Lionel (Camilio Ospina) by nearly 10 lengths. Ospina will also be back in the thick of things, but will ride the globally Listed King Saud Cup hero Haqeet.

Trainer Thamer Aldaihani and owner Sheikh Abdullah Homoud Almalek Alsabah have four runners, with their jockey Ricardo Ferreira electing to partner last season’s 2000 Guineas winner Mhally.

Also in the 20-strong field is Scotland Yard. He was second on his recent comeback under Alfouraidi, having disappointed when strongly fancied for this race in 2025, before bouncing back to score in the Tuwaiq Cup (1,800m) on Saudi Cup weekend.

There are three other qualifiers for Saudi Cup weekend on Jan 17, with Aldaihani and his jockey-owner combination responsible for unbeaten and top-rated Al Haram in the 465,000-riyal 2000 Guineas (1,600m) – a Saudi Derby qualifier. Nineteen will go to post in the 1000 Guineas (1,600m), won by Ameerat Alzamaan in 2025.

The qualifier for the Group 1 Obaiya Arabian Classic (2,000m), the Group 3 165,000-riyal Al-Dareyah Cup (2,000m) on dirt, has 12 runners – headed by the Nasser Mutlaq-trained Turki Al Khalediah II – while 18 will go on trial in the 165,000-riyal Riyadh Dirt Sprint Qualifier (1,200m).

Enormous prize money of 5 million riyals is up for grabs in both the King Abdulaziz Cup over 1,600m for purebred Arabian horses and the domestic Group 1 King Abdulaziz Cup, also over 1,600m, for three-year-olds.

The latter will see Red Stable runner Thayaf bid to maintain an unbeaten sequence after landing all three starts under Ferreira.

There is a further domestic Group 1 too, with 12 declared for the 1.5 million-riyal Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup (1,800m) for local breds. The hat-trick seeking Badr Alsamawi tops the ratings, having run fifth in last season’s Saudi Derby.
JOCKEY CLUB OF SAUDI ARABIA