The third edition of the Saudi Cup Meeting in Riyadh was again a thrilling affair. Horses from different nations and continents competed for millions of dollars in racing prizes. In the Saudi Cup alone, the final prize was 20 million dollars. And a trend that had already become apparent at other major events continued - the horses from Europe now only play a subordinate role.
Whether in Riyadh, at the World Cup Carnival in Dubai, at the Hong Kong International Races - the horses from Asia dominate. In Saudi Arabia, the Japanese achieved a special feat: they left their mark on four competitions. In the Saudi Cup, a domestic horse even won, which hardly anyone had thought possible. Once again, there was no European success. This is a disappointing result.
The biorhythm of a four-legged horse, for example, plays a major role alongside the enormous class of the candidates from the Land of the Rising Sun. The end of February is normally the winter break, but the Asian stars are "fully in the juice" here and therefore dominate to a large extent. The fact that there was no horse from Germany at all, apart from the ex-Germans like Kaspar, who did very well, speaks volumes. However, there was also bad luck, because Nerium`s start had to be cancelled at the last second and Derby winner Sisfahan had injured himself.
In any case, German horses are rare starters in Dubai, Hong Kong or Saudi Arabia. This is not likely to change in the near future. But they are in good company, because the French and the English have not been able to make much of an impact either. Others play the leading roles.
