2024 Riyadh Prizemoney Will Average $31,285 Per-Race
The 2023-24 thoroughbred horse racing season at Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh King Abdulaziz Racecourse will feature a seven percent increase in prizemoney. Running from 26th October 2023 to 16th March 2024, officials say there will also be an increase in the number of races staged at the course.
This season, 700 races will be run over 59 race meetings at the 20-year-old track. The figure represents an increase of 56 races from last year. The total prize money for the forthcoming season – excluding the showpiece Saudi Cup meeting – will rise by $1.5 million to $21.9 million.
The prizemoney at King Abdulaziz Racecourse makes it one of the most attractive places in the world to race horses. However, betting opportunities are very limited. ©GettyImages
Consequently, the average prizemoney offered per race at King Abdulaziz Racecourse will be $31,285. That number makes it one of the most attractive places in the world to own and race horses. It compares favourably with the UK.
At the time of writing, the most valuable race on a mid-week eight-race Wolverhampton card is worth £4,104 to the winner. The outstanding Saudi prizemoney does not come from local betting turnover, as gambling is illegal in all parts of Saudi Arabia.
Punters from other countries can bet on the outrageously valuable Saudi Cup races. With the eyes of the racing world on King Abdulaziz Racecourse, it is little surprise that the UK’s horse racing betting sites price up the international televised contests.
Three New Cups and Group 1s
Riyadh race meetings will now comprise of 12 races as opposed to 11, with every race day having 10 races for thoroughbreds and two for pure-bred Arabians. Three new cup races for thoroughbreds are joining the Riyadh calendar. The Imam Mohammed Bin Saud Cup, worth $240,000, is a notable addition to the Kings’ Cups race day on 13th January.
Other new cup races are the $80,000 Prince Saad Bin Abdulrahman Bin Faisal Cup (19th January) and the $80,000 Prince Fahad Bin Jalawi Cup (10th February). The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup has been shortened in distance to 1,800 metres. It is a key trial race for the $20m Saudi Cup, and its winner gets a guaranteed place in that contest.
The dates for the Saudi Cup meeting have been confirmed as 23rd – 24th February 2024, and the meeting will once again carry an enormous prize fund of $35.4 million, with the Group-1 Saudi Cup maintaining its position as the most valuable race in the world. For the first time, this season the Saudi Cup meeting will feature three international Group-1 races.
Three Races With Maximum Money
Since its inception in 2020, over 300 horses from 17 individual countries and four continents have raced at Riyadh during the Saudi Cup meeting. They have been partnered by jockeys from over 25 different countries.
The renowned Saudi Cup is scheduled four weeks after the $3 million Pegasus World Cup at Florida’s Gulfstream Park. It also takes place four weeks before the $12 million Dubai World Cup. Theoretically, a horse can compete in all three races. Last year’s Saudi Cup winner, the Japanese-trained Panthalassa, went on to finish tenth in the Dubai World Cup.
Maximum Security, who won the inaugural Saudi Cup, remains under investigation by the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia. Following the disclosure that his then trainer, Jason Servis, had given the horse performance-enhancing drugs, they have withheld ‘winning’ prizemoney ever since.
In January 2023, 66-year-old Servis pled guilty to two charges related to the doping of horses in his care. In July, he was sentenced to 48 months in prison. Maximum Security, a horse who started his career in a $16,000 maiden claiming company and ‘earned’ more than $12 million in his racing career, now stands at stud for a relatively low $10,000 mating fee.
