Racing returns to Taif this weekend at King Khalid Racecourse

DUBAI: A new 10-week summer season of horse racing begins on Friday at King Khalid Racecourse in Taif. Races will take place every Friday and Saturday, with the season culminating in the National Day Cup on Sept. 26.

A purse of SR450,000 ($120,000) will be up for grabs in both the National Day Cup and, a day earlier, the newly-upgraded Group 3 Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Cup, which will take place alongside the various divisions of the Taif Cup.

Other notable meets during the season include the Sprint Championships on Sept. 18, and the Taif Derby and Arabian Derby on Aug. 22.

This weekend, 15 runners will go to the post in Saturday’s feature race, the Taif Flower Festival Cup Prep for 3-year-olds over 1,600 meters.

One to watch in race eight, the 1,200 meter Open worth SR120,000, will be the Sheikh Abdullah Homoud Almalek Alsabah-owned, Abdullah Alsidrani-trained and Mohammed Aldaham-ridden Muqtahem (Ireland). The 5-year-old was a massive improver last season, winning five on the bounce and finishing third in the Group 2 Riyadh Dirt Sprint on Saudi Cup night, having been runner-up 12 months earlier.

He faces 15 rivals, including reliable stablemate Transferred (Ireland), who was eighth in the Dirt Sprint, and the Tariq Almansour-ridden Malyan (GB), trained by Alsidrani.

The Alsabah-Alsidrani owner-trainer partnership also have the top-rated Dance Desire (GB) in the SR120,000 Um Alqura Cup Prep over 1,200 meters. The main danger she will face in the fillies and mares’ event is likely to be Kondra (France), under Abdullah Alfairouz, from the White Stable of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz and Sons.

Another purebred-Arabian Saudi Cup night runner will on display in race three when Jade De Faust, ninth-place finisher in