Mishriff back to defend Saudi Cup crown at most valuable race on the planet

It’s the most valuable race on the planet, worth an astonishing $10 million to the winner, and it takes place in Riyadh on Saturday.

In only three years since its first running, the Saudi Cup has grabbed the attention of the racing world and the victory last year of Mishriff, owned by a leading member of the Saudi royal family, sparked a wave of celebrations in the Kingdom.

Mishriff, trained by John Gosden in England, is back to defend his title and, should he win again, he would become the leading prize-winning horse in history, eclipsing the mark set by Winx, the Australian wonder mare.

Victory would take Mishriff’s career earnings to £18,478,059 ($24.8m). That’s not bad for a horse who started his career with a cheque for £365.65 after finishing fourth at Yarmouth in England in October 2019.

For his owner, Prince AA Faisal, the prestige and honour is immense. He bred the horse and seeing him come home first 12 months ago at the King Abdulaziz racecourse is one of the highlights of his life.

The rise of the Saudi Cup is remarkable. Not so long ago the Pegasus Cup in America, the Everest in Australia and the World Cup in Dubai were vying for global pre-eminence. But Saudi Arabia was determined to make its mark, and has rapidly succeeded.

For Prince Faisal it reinforces the symbiotic relationship the Middle East has with the thoroughbred.

“Nobody loves racing and horses like Arabs,” he says. “I just love the horse and I think that people who don’t love horses shouldn’t have anything to do with racing. This is the whole thing. If you don’t enjoy it, leave it.”

The five-year-old has extra significance for Prince Faisal, who named the horse after his former trainer, who, the Prince says, "taught me the Arab way of looking