Michael Schofield And Oisin Murphy Escape With Tuwaiq Cup

BRITISH CHAMPION JOCKEY SHINES ON LOCAL STAR

Image: Michael Schofield (USA) and Oisin Murphy win the Listed USD$1m Tuwaiq Cup Presented by SHG. Credit: JCSA

The King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz & Sons-owned Michael Scofield (USA) crowned his first season in Saudi Arabia with a convincing victory in the Listed USD$1m Tuwaiq Cup Presented by SHG.

Ridden by multiple British champion jockey Oisin Murphy, the 4-year-old gelding who last year had been trained in Ireland but had started his career in the UK before arriving in Riyadh later in the season, showed a lot of heart to go past the leader Bernard Shaw (USA), who at one point looked to have the 1800m race in the bag.

Once he found his rhythm in the final straight and was switched to the outside, the Saad Aljenade-trained son of Tiz The Law continued his effort right to the line, beating Final Destination(GB) by three-quarters of a. length with Waqtuk (USA) a length further back in third place. The winning time was 1:52.668.

Quotes

Oisin Murphy, jockey, Michael Schofield, 1st: “They were very confident. I had a beautiful run. The pace was very fast and I thought the leader had got away. They are quite high-quality horses and there are 20 of them so it’s very competitive and it takes some bit of riding.

“But I was on the right horse and he ground it out when I switched him to the outside, but it took him ages. It’s nice to win a race for the connections. I ride a lot for them and I’m very happy.”

Ricardo Ferreira, jockey, Final Destination, 2nd: “My horse is a bigger horse and has a big heart. All the time this season he has had tough races. Today is a good run but if we had a good start from the middle draw, he gets to win. It was too outside in 19.”

Alexis Moreno, jockey, Waqtuk, 3rd: “He ran well. I felt the distance might have been a bit too long for him, but he tried hard. I thought we were going to get there at the final furlong [200m], but two horses finished strongly from behind us. Well done to them. A shorter trip would suit him better.”

***ENDS***