LONDON: One of the horses flying the flag for British racing at this weekend’s Saudi Cup meeting has “definitely got a chance” of claiming a famous victory among a strong field, his trainer William Knight and syndicate chief Sam Hoskins said on Friday.
Sir Busker runs in the Group Three NEOM Turf Cup on Saturday and will face stiff competition from early favorite Missed The Cut, trained by George Boughey, and the John and Thady Gosden-trained Mostahdaf, while the strongest Arab interest will be in White Moonlight, trained by Godolphin’s Saeed bin Suroor. “Mostahdaf has got very good form in the book,” Knight said. “Missed The Cut looks unexposed, it could do anything, and I know the Boughey team think a lot of him.” He added: “They are probably the two favorites.
They’ll be priced up as such, and they’ve got every right to be so. It’s competitive as any of these big races are, but I definitely think [Sir Busker] has got a chance of being in the first three. “If he can run to the same form as he did when he won the Group Two at York, as well as his Juddmonte form, he’s got to be there in the shake-up,” he told Arab News.
British racing’s interest in the Saudi Cup has flourished since the inaugural event in 2020, according to Knight, who said the meeting is perfectly timed for horses in between their season breaks.