Derby hero Van Dyck among stellar names in frame for inaugural Saudi Cup meeting

Derby winner Anthony Van Dyck, Magic Wand and Ghaiyyath feature among the near-1,000 nominations for the eight races at the inaugural Saudi Cup fixture in February.

A total of 143 horses have been put forward for the $20 million Saudi Cup, run over nine furlongs on dirt and for which there is free entry and all travel expenses paid, including the likes of Midnight Bisou, Ghaiyyath and McKinzie.

Horses from across the globe could compete in the world’s richest race with trainers from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Britain, France, Ireland, Norway, Italy, Poland, Turkey, America, Canada, Argentina, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Bahrain hoping to be involved on February 29.

Magic Wand and Anthony Van Dyck are the big names in the $2.5m Neom Turf Cup, a 1m2½f turf contest, while Circus Maximus, Desert Encounter and Barney Roy also feature.

Familiar names feature across the entries for the remainder of the card including the likes of Bound For Nowhere, Oh This Is Us and Sir Dancealot (Turf Sprint) and Kew Gardens, Cross Counter, Verdana Blue and Prince Of Arran (Red Sea Handicap).

Tom Ryan, director of strategy and international racing for the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia said: “The response to the Saudi Cup from the international racing community has been fantastic. We couldn’t be happier with the entries that we’ve received and we are now fully focused on putting on a spectacular first Saudi Cup race day to live up to the calibre of these entries.”

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