Straight No Chaser wins the Riyadh Dirt Sprint (Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia/Mathea Kelley)
Earns Automatic Berth Into G1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint
Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia Press Release
Straight No Chaser (USA) arrived from America with the billing as one of the major equine attractions of this year’s The Saudi Cup meeting and he duly dazzled in the US$2m Riyadh Dirt Sprint presented by Saudi National Bank.
Lightly-raced for a 6-year-old but brought to a peak by trainer Dan Blacker, Straight No Chaser was last seen in November when taking the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar.
Kept in training by the Myracehorse syndicate for another campaign, Straight No Chaser was swiftly into the lead under John Velazquez and shrugged off the attentions of Jasper Krone (USA). Velazquez pressed on over the final 400m and although Muqtahem (IRE) emerged as a brief danger, he was kept at bay by a clear three and three-quarter lengths in 1:11.159.
Quotes
John Velazquez, jockey, Straight No Chaser, 1st: “He broke really well and I was actually, after Jasper Krone came up on the outside, going to see if I could get him back a little bit and tried to grab him.
“He started to fight me, so I just said, ‘OK, I’ll leave him alone’ and then he relaxed a little better. He broke so sharp and I was trying to get loose reins.
“Then he was looking for the bit and I didn’t want to touch him. I just wanted him to relax. All of a sudden [Jasper Krone] took back a little bit and my horse engaged and I said, ‘Let’s go’. Turning for home he was moving really well and then passing the sixteenth pole he idled a little bit and started looking around and I said, ‘Oh no, no idling here’ and he finished up well.”
Dan Blacker, trainer, Straight No Chaser: “I’m just really proud of the horse and I’m glad he gets to prove himself on the global stage against the fastest horses in the world.
“It’s pretty exciting. I’m thankful for The Saudi Cup and Prince Bandar for welcoming us here and I’m fired up that he’s a Breeders’ Cup winner who’s now won a Breeders’ Cup ‘Win & You’re In’. We’ll see how he comes out, but hopefully on to Dubai.”
Muhammad Aldaham, jockey, Muqtahem, 2nd: “Yes, very good. A champion horse won, he’s a Group 1 winner. I’m happy, my horse finished second. I hope next time he’ll win.”
Christophe Lemaire, jockey, Gabby’s Sister 3rd: “She ran really well for a 4-year-old against the older and tougher horses. She is a sprinter we are going to talk about in the future. She finished really well. Today, the pace set by the American was very strong, which we knew. But she ran really well.”
Camilio Ospina, jockey, Halaa, 4th: “It was a tough race. The pace was set too fast by the Japanese horse and the American horse is very nice, but we finished fourth and we are very happy with that.”
Yutaka Take, jockey Chikappa, 10th: “The kickback did not bother him at all. He did not run too bad and his performance was not as disappointing as the finishing place. I think he will run even better in Dubai.”
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