Wanaameen Saturday’s Headline Act
Image: Wanaameen wins at King Abdulaziz Racecourse on January 17, 2026.
Credit: Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia / Ali Abdullah Alzunaydi.
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Domestic Group 1 winner makes seasonal comeback
Thursday October 22, 2026 – Dual Domestic Group 1 winner Wanaameen (KSA) returns to the scene of his finest hour on Saturday by heading the field for the SAR120,000 Prep for Prince Mohammed bin Saud Alkabeer Cup at King Abdulaziz Racecourse.
Camilio Ospina’s mount was last seen landing The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup at the track for the White Stable of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz in January and has his first outing since in the 2000m feature.
The four-year-old had previously taken the G1 Crown Prince Cup under Belgium ace Christophe Soumillon the previous month and will be looking for his third straight win against 16 rivals.
He is a standout on ratings and will be joined by other White Stable runners Alfakher (KSA) and Kaflahom (KSA), with the Red Stable of Prince Faisal bin Khaled bin Abdulaziz fielding both Ibn Laboun (KSA) and the just twice-raced Le Oyoun Note (KSA).
Owner Sheikh Abdullah Homoud Almalek Alsabah dominates the field for Saturday’s race eight with three entries in the SAR120,000 Open over 1600m.
Ricardo Ferreira will be aboard 15-times winner Ya Dar (FR), Muhammad Aldaham partners Mullazem (IRE) and Fahad Alfouraidi rides Instant Appeal (GB), with the latter an Irish import who finished down the field on his sole start at Taif in August.
Top-rated amongst the 14 declarations is Adel Alfouraidi’s mount Sa'aeid (USA) who was a 2000m winner last campaign and has his first start since finishing 13th in the Listed Tuwaiq Cup on The Saudi Cup undercard.
Familiar names go in the opening SAR120,000 Arabian Horses Open over 1600m with Baseq And Bake (USA) looking to confirm recent superiority over old rival Jade De Faust (FR) after they ran first and second in the Taif Sprint Championship Arabian Horses, with further intrigue added by Dananeer Al Khalediah (KSA).
The eight-year-old mare has been lightly-raced of late but put together five successive wins in 2023 and finished seventh to the star Tilal AI Khalediah (KSA) in that year’s Obaiya Arabian Classic.
Friday’s card is headlined by the SAR150,000 General Intelligence Presidency Cup over 1600m in which Tuwaiq Cup hero Michael Scofield (USA) makes his return to action for the White Stable.
The four-year-old won twice from five outings last season having arrived from Michael O’Callaghan’s Irish yard and had multiple UK champion Oisin Murphy aboard when winning in February over 200m further.
Sheikh Abdullah Homoud Almalek Alsabah plays a strong hand with both Uncle (GB) and Tuwaiq Cup second Final Destination (GB), with the latter having had two outings during the Taif Summer Season and was last seen finishing fifth to the reopposing Power Of Beauty (IRE) in the King Khaled Racecourse Championship on September 26.
White Stable also field three runners including Wakeed (KSA) and Lelah Doroh (KSA) in the SAR150,000 Africa Cup over 1800m, in which Red Stable also have Aela Mahlek (KSA) and Hafedhk Allah (KSA) amongst the 17-strong field.
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