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Paco Lopez 4000 wins Woodbine Turf Showcase Woodward Stakes Day Pennsylvania Derby Day Mohawk Million Night |
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 The beautiful golden trophy for the Saudi Cup |
The inaugural $20 million Saudi Cup will be run on Saturday evening at King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Riyadh, taking over the title of world's richest horse race away from the Pegasus World Cup and Dubai World Cup. The grandstand is small by world standards, seating about 5000 people. The main dirt track is 1 1/4 miles around and with its elongated backstretch chute, can run races up to 1 1/4 miles as one turn events. The 1 1/8 mile turf course, located inside the main track, was added late in 2019 in order to host the turf races on the Saudi Cup undercard. In fact the first 3 races on Saturday's card are turf events, before the action switches to the dirt. Saudi Arabia has begun to "modernize" in recent years, including major changes to policy such as issuing tourist visas (in the past, only business travel and Hajj pilgrimages were allowed for foreigners), and issuing drivers' licenses to women.
Please click the smaller photos to see a larger version.
  The grandstand at King Abdulaziz Racetrack. That is McKinzie in the right photo. |
  Left: The parade ring on Thursday with all the flowers ready to be put out for decoration.
Right: The parade ring on Friday night during the STC International Jockeys Challenge won by Mike Smith.
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  Prince Bandar Bin Khalid Al-Faisal reveals the beautiful golden bejeweled trophy for the Saudi Cup plus a close-up of the trophy. |
  There were cultural celebrations and a fashion show by a local designer at the reveal party. |
 Part of the ceremony to unveil the trophy for the inaugural Saudi Cup at King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Riyadh was a sand painter who created amazing images with nothing but sand. So temporary but so beautiful! If you don't see the video on the right, you can view it here. |
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