Taif Kickstarts a New Horse Racing Season in Saudi Arabia

King Khalid Racecourse opens a ten-week season this weekend that will culminate with the National Cup, introducing a new points system for the championships and featuring several of the top local stars right from opening day

TAIF, Saudi Arabia (Special for Turf Diario).- Following the spectacular conclusion of the winter season in Riyadh with the Saudi Cup (G1), the spotlight of Saudi racing shifts to the mountains of Taif, where the traditional summer meeting officially kicks off this Friday at King Khalid Racecourse—a 10-week fixture set to once again anchor much of the nation's thoroughbred activity.

The program schedules race meetings every Friday and Saturday through late September, culminating with the National Cup Raceday on the final Saturday of the month.

Among the marquee events on the calendar are the National Day Cup, offering a purse of 450,000 Saudi riyals on September 26, and the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Cup, which was elevated to G3 status this year and will be contested a day earlier alongside the various divisions of the Taif Cup. Other highlights include the Sprint Championships on September 18, as well as the Taif Derby and the Arabian Derby, both slated for August 22.

Action gets underway with several prep races featuring a strong contingent of horses that left their mark during the recent Saudi campaign.

A primary focus on Saturday will center on the prep for the Taif Flower Festival Cup, reserved for 3-year-olds over 1600 meters. Meanwhile, the sprint division features Muqtahem (Soldier's Call), representing the colors of Sheikh Abdullah Homoud Almalek Alsabah, trained by Abdullah Alsidrani and ridden by Muhammad Aldaham.

The dark bay proved to be one of the standout revelations of last season, stringing together five consecutive victories before confirming his rise with a third-place finish in the Riyadh Dirt Sprint (G2) on Saudi Cup day, having finished runner-up in that same contest a year prior.

He now seeks to launch the new meeting on a winning note over 1200 meters, where he faces 15 rivals, including stablemate Transferred (Dark Angel) and Malyan (Twilight Son), also conditioned by Alsidrani.

The powerhouse trio of Alsabah, Alsidrani, and Aldaham will also send out Dance Desire (Sea the Stars), the top-rated runner in the prep for the Um Alqura Cup, where her primary opposition figures to come from Kondra, carrying the silks of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz & Sons.

The card will also feature the return of several contenders who competed on Saudi Cup night. Among them is the Purebred Arabian mare Jade De Faust, ninth in the Al Mneefah Cup (G1), who returns to face 14 rivals in an open event over 1200 meters.

Friday's races will similarly serve as stepping stones toward major summer targets. There, Prince Faisal bin Khaled bin Abdulaziz's Red Stable will line up three runners in both the prep for the JCSA Almaseef Cup and the Shubra Cup prep, where Harbi, one of the highest-regarded contenders in the field, stands out.

Another key entrant is Garamy, looking to bounce back after an uninspired performance in the Tuwaiq Cup. Prior to that outing, she had finished second to the aforementioned Dance Desire in the Japan's Cup (G3) held in January.

Beyond the track action, the start of the season introduces a major regulatory update. The Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia (JCSA) will implement a new points system for the owner, trainer, jockey, and horse championships, awarding greater point values to victories secured in higher-graded events.

As explained by the organization's CEO, Prince Salman bin Abdullah Al Saud, the objective is "to elevate the level of competitiveness, enhance the quality of the local horse population, and strengthen the concept of ongoing competition throughout the entire season."

With an increasingly robust calendar and a constantly growing racing infrastructure, Taif once again becomes the premier stage for Saudi racing over the coming months before the circuit returns to Riyadh and resumes the path leading once again toward the long-awaited Saudi Cup.