Group 1 Saudi Cup to kick off Saturday’s Cross Country Pick 5
At 1h21, on February 26, 2022 • By AQUEDUCT
The New York Racing Association Inc. (NYRA) will host a Cross Country Pick 5 on Saturday featuring stakes action from Aqueduct Racetrack, Oaklawn Park and King Abdulaziz Racetrack.
The sequence kicks off with the Group 1 Saudi Cup [Race 8, 12:40 p.m.], the world’s richest race with a $20 million purse from King Abdulaziz Racetrack. The nine-furlong test boasting 14 horses is headlined by defending champion Mishriff and includes an international field of contenders led by multiple Grade 1-winner Mandaloun, who was recently elevated to victory in the 2021 Grade 1 Kentucky Derby following the disqualification of Medina Spirit.
Action switches to Aqueduct for the second leg [Race 7, 3:57 p.m.] as a field of 13 older horses travel a one-turn mile in a loaded allowance optional-claimer featuring the seasonal debut of last year’s Grade 3 Withers-winner Risk Taking. Trained by four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown, the 4-year-old Medaglia d’Oro bay is 2-for-3 at the Big A and will be reunited with Withers-winning pilot Eric Cancel. Brown will also send out the improving Sound Money, a 4-year-old Flatter colt, who has won two of his last three starts led by a last-out allowance romp that garnered a 97 Beyer Speed Figure.
The middle leg will see a field of seven square off in the $125,000 Stymie [Race 8, 4:30 p.m.], a one-turn mile for older horses at the Big A led by graded-stakes winner Green Light Go. Trained by Jimmy Jerkens, the 5-year-old Stronach Stables homebred enters from a nine-length score in a one-turn mile optional claimer that registered a career-best 101 Beyer. Steep opposition will be provided by the improving Waxman, who makes his stakes debut for Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher out of a nine-furlong allowance score at the Big A.
The sequence will be completed by a pair of races at Oaklawn Park, starting with an allowance mile [Race 9, 5:18 p.m.] featuring 12 older horses. The field will be led by four-time winner Palace Coup, who will cut back slightly after finishing a pace-setting second last out in an Oaklawn allowance. A wide-open group of contenders includes recent allowance winner Prioritization, the well-bred Calibrate and ultra-consistent Pats Property, who boasts a record of 5-2-2-0.
Closing out the sequence is the Grade 2, $1 million Rebel [Race 11, 6:22 p.m.], a 1 1/16-mile test for sophomores offering 50-20-10-5 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top-four finishers. The talented field features the top-five finishers from last month’s Grade 3 Southwest at Oaklawn led by the undefeated Newgrange and the late-rallying runner-up Barber Road.
