Saudi Cup: Meisho Hario is scratched; Scotland Yard draws in
Meisho Hario, one of the four Japan horses who was entered for Saturday’s Grade 1, $20 million Saudi Cup, was scratched from the race Thursday.
Saudi Cup draw: Posts, odds for world’s richest race.
A spokesperson for the Japan contingent said she could not comment on the exit of the 7-year-old son of Pyro before owner Yoshio Matsumoto or trainer Inao Okada made a formal statement. A Thursday post on X by Keibalab reported that Meisho Hario arrived in Saudi Arabia with muscle stiffness that did not resolve, leading to him being scratched from the race.
Also-eligible entrant Scotland Yard, a 5-year-old horse formerly trained by Steve Asmussen, moved into the main draw. Filling the spot vacated by Meisho Hario, he will start from post 12 in the field of 14 for what will be his second consecutive Saudi Cup after finishing in last place a year ago. Local jockey Luis Morales, a native of Panama, will ride Saturday for trainer Moutaib Almulawah.
Since Saudi Arabia prince Saud bin Salman Abdulaziz bought him for $300,000 at a July 2022 Fasig-Tipton sale, Scotland Yard has done all his racing at the King Abdulaziz course in Riyadh.
Bred in Florida by Leslie and John Malone’s Bridlewood Farm, Scotland Yard is an entire son of Quality Road out of the Curlin mare Leslie’s Harmony. He raced four times in 2022 for Siena Farm and WinStar Farm, finishing in the money three times without winning.
Including his maiden breaker Dec. 31, 2022, and then two stakes, Scotland Yard won his first three races in Saudi Arabia in a four-week span in the buildup to last year’s Saudi Cup. After a nearly 10-month break, he came back Dec. 15 to win an allowance race. Last month he finished sixth in the King Faisal Cup and second in the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup, the two stakes he won last year.
A two-time Grade 3 winner, Meisho Haro has competed mostly in Japan’s second level of racing since the summer of 2022. His most recent start was Dec. 3, when he moved up in class to finish fifth in the Champions Cup (G1) at Chukyo.