Horseracing Returns to Riyadh on October 16

Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia Unveils 2025-2026 Racing Season

21 September 2025 – Horseracing will resume at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh next month as an exciting new season is revealed by The Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia culminating with the US$20m Saudi Cup on February 14, 2026.

The new campaign gets underway on October 16 and is the first of 50 meetings for Thoroughbred and Purebred Arabian horses, which for the first time will end with The Saudi Cup meeting. The change in schedule is to accommodate the Holy Month of Ramadan, which falls around February 28, 2026

The seventh running of The Saudi Cup coincides with at significant moment for Saudi Arabia as the 41st Asian Racing Conference, titled ‘Honouring Tradition - Shaping The Future’, takes place in the country from February 9 and closes at The Saudi Cup.

The season finale gets under way on February 13 and features the popular International Jockeys’ Challenge, The Sarawat and Tuwaiq Cups and builds to the US$1.5m Group 1 Al Mneefah Cup for Purebred Arabians held over 2100m of the turf course.

Nine-races will be held the following day as The Saudi Cup enters its seventh year with the G2 Neom Turf Cup, G2 Riyadh Dirt Sprint and the Red Sea Turf Handicap offering a host of opportunities on turf and on dirt for the world’s best equine athletes.

Before that, the new Riyadh season begins next month and will be staged in its familiar format with 12-race cards taking place every Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

The most significant meeting outside of the season finale is the Saudi Cup trials weekend held on January 16 and 17, which features The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup and King Abdulaziz Cups.

American challenger Rattle N Roll (USA) landed The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup for trainer, Kenny McPeek and jockey, Joel Rosario to qualify for The Saudi Cup in 2025, and the winner of the Group 3 next January will also guarantee themselves a starting position in the world’s richest race.

Qualifiers for The Neom Turf Cup, 1351 Turf Sprint, Red Sea Turf Handicap, Riyadh Dirt Sprint and the G1 Obaiyah Classic and G1 Al-Mneefah Cup will will also be held over those two days.

Other significant events during the calendar are the Royal Cups on December 26 and 27, featuring three domestic G1 races – the1600m King Fahad Cup for juveniles, the 1800m King Khaled Cup for three-year-olds and the King Saud Cup over 2000m for older horses.

Another Domestic G1 will be staged on December 5 with The Crown Prince Cup for local breds over 2400m featuring alongside the Listed Crown Prince Cup.

Both races carry a purse of SAR1m (US$266,000) and feature some of the best Saudi-trained horses, with the latter ace won last term by Wootton'sun (FR) who went on to be third to Rattle N Roll and take his chance in The Saudi Cup itself.

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