$20 Million Saudi Cup Contender: POWER IN NUMBERS

Posted by Admin February 23, 2024 Horse Racing

A field of 14 has been entered for the $20 million Saudi Cup (G1) on Saturday at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – the world’s richest horse race. usracing.com is posting profiles of the starters.

It’s no secret that purchasing top-flight North American horses to become a leading player on horse racing’s world stage has been a goal of the powerful stables in the Mideast for some time. For King Abdullah Bin a/Aziz Sons’ KAS operation, the payback began almost immediately with Power in Numbers.

Power In Numbers was sold for $400,000 after a stakes win at Monmouth Park last summer

Back story: Unraced at 2, the bay son of Girvin had finished second and fourth – by a considerable margin each time – before finally hitting his best stride in a gate-to-wire maiden victory on April 2, 2023, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

That win was followed by a similar front-running effort two months later in an optional claimer at Monmouth Park, after which he scored his first stakes win in the Tale of the Cat, also at Monmouth, for Klaravich Stable and trainer Chad Brown.

When put up for auction at the Fasig-Tipton Horses of Racing Age sale in July 2023, Power in Numbers was snapped up by KAS for $400,000, double what Klaravich had paid for him two years earlier.

Under the care of Ahmed Mahmoud, the colt quickly acclimated to his new surroundings, finishing second in an allowance on Nov. 2, then reeling off four straight wins, including the Saeed El Majed Cup, the Prince Naif Ben A/Aziz Cup, and most recently, the Custodian Of The Two Holy Mosques Cup on Jan. 27.

2024 Saudi Cup Contender Odds and Post Position: Power In Numbers

Betting advice: With Saudi’s top rider Camilo Ospina opting for Carmel Road over Power in Numbers, the decision speaks for itself – not a top contender.

Post position: 10

Odds: 30-1 (unofficial US Racing Team odds)

Jockey: Adel Alfouraidi

Trainer: Ahmed Mohammed

Owners: King Abdullah bin a/Aziz Sons

Age: 4

Career record: 10-7-2-0

Career earnings: $474,420

Last race: The Custodian Of The Two Holy Mosques Cup, Jan. 27 (1^st)

Best Equibase speed figure: 96

Pedigree: Girvin-Gold Edge, by Eddington

Color: Bay

Running style: Frontrunner

Notes: Jockey Camilo Ospina, eight-time Saudi champion, chose Carmel Road over Power in Numbers in the Saudi Cup. He has ridden both, said it was a tough choice, and went with Carmel Road because he was “so impressive’’ in his last race. He then added: “But Power in Numbers will be close to the pace, and he is a very good horse. He has a lot of class and I know he is in top form.”

**2024 Saudi Cup Odds and Contenders**
PP	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	Owner	Odds
1	White Abarrio	Irad Ortiz, Jr	Rick Dutrow, Jr.	C2 Racing Stable LLC and La Milagrosa Stable, LLC	3-1
2	Isolate	Joel Rosario	Doug Watson	RRR Racing	15-1
3	Lemon Pop	Ryusei Sakai	Hiroyasu Tanaka	Godolphin	15-1
4	Senor Buscador	Junior Alvarado	Todd Fincher	Joe R. Peacock, Jr	10-1
5	Saudi Crown	Florent Geroux	Brad Cox	SFMQ Stables	8-1
6	Crown Pride	Joao Moreira	Koichi Shintani	Teruya Yoshida	20-1
7	National Treasure	Flavien Prat	Bob Baffert	F Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Masterson, Robert E., Stonestreet Stables LLC, Schoenfarber, Jay A., Waves Edge Capital LLC and Donovan, Catherine	9-2
8	Hoist the Gold	John Velazquez	Dallas Stewart	Dream Team One Racing Stable	30-1
9	Defunded	Luis Saez	Abdulaziz K Mishref	Pegram, Michael E., Watson, Karl and Weitman, Paul	25-1
10	Power in Numbers	Adel Alfouraidi	Ahmed Mohamoud	Klaravich Stables, Inc.	30-1
11	Ushba Tesoro	Yuga Kawada	Noboru Takagi	Ryotokuji Kenji Holdings Co. Ltd.	10-1
12	Meisho Hario	Suguru Hamanaka	Inao Okada	Yoshio Matsumoto	20-1
13	Derma Sotogake	Christophe Lemaire	Hidetaka Otonashi	Hiroyuki Asanuma	6-1
14	Carmel Road	Camillo Ospina	Abdullah Albadah	SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Masterson, Robert E., Stonestreet Stables LLC, Schoenfarber, Jay A., Waves Edge Capital LLC and Donovan, Catherinetd>	25-1