Horseracing commenced in the 1920s when His Majesty King Abdulaziz raced horses with his sons in Malez which is now in the heart of Downtown Riyadh. They would sit atop a large hill and watch the spectacle unfold below and it was here that the country’s first racecourse was developed.

Racing grew beyond a pastime for the Royal family and their associates as domestic and international participation expanded so Riyadh’s racing HQ moved to a 9km squared site at Al Janadriya in the north east of the city in 2002. King Abdulaziz Racecourse is now a state-of-the-art venue for up to 25,000 racegoers. The racecourse features a 2000m left-handed dirt track and an 1800m turf track which was added in 2019.

Perhaps a further symbol of the Club’s evolution is the International Jockeys Challenge on Saudi Cup weekend which puts the female jockeys in the spotlight. The only event of its kind to feature equal numbers of men and women, these international and local athletes fight it out on locally trained horses over four races. In 2020 history was made as New Zealander Lisa Allpress became the first woman to win a horse race in Saudi Arabia.

Today, the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia (JCSA) is pursuing a considered and long-term strategy to rise from its status as a Part II country, a promotion that was achieved in October 2021, to a Part I country in the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities ranking lists. Chaired by HRH Prince Bandar Bin Khalid Al Faisal, the JCSA is charged with building a world-class horse racing industry that has a positive impact on the country’s sporting, cultural and economic sectors, while promoting Saudi Arabia internationally and strengthening racing across the GCC.