Grade 1 winner Locked joins the growing list of United States-based runners that will bypass the rich $20 million Saudi Cup (G1) Feb. 22 at King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Riyadh. The Saudi Cup took a major hit earlier in the week when the connections of 2024 champion 3-year-old Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) hero Sierra Leone and recent Pegasus World Cup (G1) White Abarrio opted out of the lucrative contest.
Locked, trained by Todd Pletcher for owners Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Walmac Farm, is exiting a runner-up finish in the Pegasus World Cup. The son of Gun Runner performed admirably in his 4-year-old debut, closing from eighth to get second in his first try going 1 1/8 miles. Locked had been coming off a season-ending victory in the 2024 Cigar Mile Handicap (G2) at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners wrote on the social media platform X that Locked would target the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap (G1) March 1 at Santa Anita Park for his next start.
Aron Wellman, founder and president of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners told BloodHorse, Feb. 8 that the decision to pass the Saudi Cup arrived from a combination of “timing, logistics, and doing our best to map out a domestic campaign capable of posturing him for maximum success in the most prestigious, stallion value-enhancing events.”
The official list of Saudi Cup nominations was released Friday night, with Sharaf Mohamad Alhariri and Lucky Seven Stable’s Rattle N Roll the lone U.S.-based contender left in the race. A multiple graded stakes winner, Rattle N Roll scored impressively in Riyadh’s local prep for the Saudi Cup in last month’s Custodian Of The Two Holy Mosques Cup (G3).
Friday night, the Daily Racing Form reported that 2024 champion female sprinter and Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) victress Soul of an Angel , on top of the list of also-eligibles for the Saudi Cup, was no longer under consideration for the race. Mark Cornett, the bloodstock agent and racing manager for the mare’s part owner, C2 Racing, told the Daily Racing Form that Soul of an Angel would be pointing toward the April 5 Madison Stakes (G1) at Keeneland.
