The Saudi Cup

In 2020 a new challenger for the title of World’s Richest Horse Race emerged. The Saudi Cup held its inaugural running on February 29, 2020 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Maximum Security crossed the line first, but was disqualified in 2024 and Midnight Bisou became the official winner. The advertised race purse was $20 million, including a $10 million winner’s prize; prize allocation and the original finish order are different records.

Are mega races like the Saudi Cup, the Pegasus World Cup, Dubai World Cup, and Champions Cup becoming the new trend in horse racing? Is it possible that these large events will someday replace more traditional horse racing contests? Here is a look at how the Saudi Cup became the world’s richest horse race, and how other races contributed to its birth.

The Middle East Horse Racing Connection

The $20,000,000 purse for the Saudi Cup is impressive, but even more impressive is that the event is conducted in a country that has a reputation for being oppressive in may ways. The very leaders of the country were even connected to the 2018 assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Sporting events have been slowly making inroads into the conservative culture of Saudi Arabia. World Wrestling Entertainment has even been able to host wrestling cards which have featured women, something that would have been hard to imagine just five years ago. It was similarly hard to envision the Saudi Cup in a country that has a strong opposition to gambling.

The modern Thoroughbred has important ancestry from imported stallions associated with the Middle East and North Africa, alongside British mares and other ancestors. The Darley Arabian, Godolphin Arabian and Byerley Turk are central to surviving paternal lines, but their names do not prove that all were the same breed or that their exact birthplaces are known. Pedigree history should not be simplified into three complete national origins for the entire breed.

Some would say that it is only right for the Middle East to reclaim its birthright, so to speak, by becoming the home of the world’s richest races.

The Dubai World Cup Influence

In looking at how the Saudi Cup became the world’s richest horse race, one would have to examine the influence of the Dubai World Cup. The race was once able to claim that it offered the largest purse, until it was challenged by the Pegasus World Cup in the United States. The Dubai Racing Carnival still remains one of the richest horse racing meets in the world today.

The UAE should be given credit for having the determination and willingness to stage such an event. Without the Dubai World Cup, the Saudi Cup or any other of the mega horse races would have been hard to bring to life.

Challenges Faced by the Saudi Cup

When the inaugural running of the Saudi Cup was announced for February 2020, few people had an idea of what would be transpiring in just a few short weeks. Not long after the race, a majority of the entire world was on lockdown or preparing to enter periods of restriction due to the Covid-19 global health pandemic. If the race had been scheduled for even a month later, it probably would have been canceled.

As it was, getting the horses, trainers, and jockeys into Saudi Arabia for the race was a challenge. Many hurdles had to be cleared, and there were some owners and trainers who simply refused to subject their horses to the stress of international travel.

Still, when the field for the Saudi Cup was announced there were some impressive names. Among these was Maximum Security. The famed colt lost the Kentucky Derby in 2019 due to being disqualified for interference. The Saudi Cup was a chance at redemption, and trainer Jason Servis guided Maximum Security to the win. Servis was indicted in March 2020; the subsequent disciplinary decision changed the official Saudi Cup result. Read the horse’s profile for the later chronology rather than treating an accusation, a court outcome and a race ruling as the same event.

The controversy placed the inaugural result under scrutiny. The Covid-19 pandemic could have ended any discussion of a second running. Still, despite all the challenges, the Saudi Cup returned in 2021 with another $20,000,000 purse. It appears that the race is here to stay.

How to Handicap the Saudi Cup as an International Bettor

The Saudi Cup presents one of the most challenging handicapping puzzles in global racing precisely because of its international diversity. Fields that combine top North American dirt horses, European turf specialists adapting to an unfamiliar surface, and Middle Eastern-trained horses with limited exposure in international markets require a multi-layered analytical approach that goes well beyond standard domestic handicapping. The most reliable starting point is identifying which horses in the field have already demonstrated the ability to perform on dirt or synthetic surfaces, and weighting those form lines more heavily than the surface credentials of turf-based horses making a switch.

A North American dirt record can supply relevant evidence, but country of training alone does not establish an advantage at King Abdulaziz Racecourse. However, the travel component — a long international journey immediately before a major race — affects different horses differently, and monitoring pre-race reports about each horse’s condition and adjustment to the Saudi environment is important context that the raw form lines cannot capture. Connections who make multiple trips to Saudi Arabia, or who have managed international travel successfully before, are generally better positioned to present their horses in peak condition. For broader context on international racing betting, our article on international horse betting trends covers the global landscape. And our guide to the Dubai World Cup Racing Carnival covers a comparable international event.

Watching and Wagering on the Saudi Cup

The Saudi Cup has continued beyond the article’s original 2020–2021 discussion. Check the official calendar for the next running and the final declarations for the edition you want to follow. Our racebook comparisons can help identify services to investigate, but past coverage does not guarantee that a particular operator carries the next edition or accepts customers in your location.

You may be able to follow the Saudi Cup remotely through authorized broadcasts, results and an available race menu. For horse betting, check eligibility and the operator’s rules before relying on an account. Registration, live-video rights and free handicapping tools are separate services with separate terms. You can also study the race and its history without wagering.

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The event beyond its inaugural year

This article focuses on the Saudi Cup’s 2020 launch. The event has continued: the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia reports that Forever Young won the 2025 and 2026 editions, becoming its first two-time winner. The official 2026 result records the race at King Abdulaziz Racecourse over 1,800 meters on dirt and a $10 million winner’s prize from the $20 million race purse. Those figures describe that edition; do not assume future conditions and purses are fixed.

When assessing an international field, compare each runner’s dirt record, travel, recent schedule, post position and pace scenario rather than ranking horses by home country alone. Check the official declarations and local race time. A stream or article about a race does not establish that wagering is available in every reader’s jurisdiction.

The organizer’s 2024 decision was reported in its statement reproduced by Arab News. A later prize-money redistribution does not, by itself, prove that every historical betting ticket was resettled.