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By Duane Fonseca
Bhupat Seemar will be looking to break new ground in Riyadh this weekend when he takes another shot at two of the races on the prestigious Saudi Cup programme at King Abdulaziz Racetrack that eluded him last time.
Luck ran out on Seemar when he dispatched his first Saudi runners, three of them, in his rookie season as trainer during the 2022 programme, as Switzerland and Gladiator King, both owned by RRR Racing, finished sixth and seventh in the 1200m Group 3 Riyadh Dirt Sprint, while Secret Ambition, the 2021 Group 2 Godolphin Mile winner, took seventh behind Emblem Road in the feature 1800m Group 1 Saudi Cup.
Switzerland was due to travel, but with connections opting to withdraw him and instead have him focus his attention on defending his Group 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen title, Seemar is left to saddle just two. Both Remorse and Freedom Fighter will carry the colours of Al Rashid Stables: the former is Saudi Cup bound, while the latter lines up in the Riyadh Dirt Sprint.
Remorse finished a little under five lengths back in fourth behind Bob Baffert’s Country Grammer in the 2022 Group 1 Dubai World Cup and marked his seasonal bow by winning the The Entisar, a Listed event over 2000m at Meydan, while Freedom Fighter’s only start this term yielded a third in the Group 3 Al Shindagha Sprint. Seemar is looking forward to the challenge after admitting mucus might have scuppered the chances of his runners last year.
“We have two horses going there, one is Remorse. I think he deserves his chance. He was four lengths behind Country Grammer and it’s a long straight over there at Riyadh and he was finishing his race well in the World Cup. I think nine furlongs (1800m) is his trip and I hope he likes the track but he’s training really well,” Seemar told Adiyat Racing Plus.
“All three horses last year had mucus and they didn’t scope that well. Hopefully we will have better luck this time.” Freedom Fighter locks hooves against strong contingents representing Japan, including defending champion Dancing Prince, and the USA and will be joined in the starting gates by fellow UAE raider Mouheeb, trained by Michael Costa for Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
“He had his first run and was drawn 14 and he ran a very good race to finish third from that draw in the Al Shindagha Sprint. But he’s a very tactical horse with good tactical speed, so you can do whatever you want with him,” Seemar added.
