The Saudi Cup 2025: Horse Racing’s Richest Event
Sports in general are a very diverse group of activities and different parts of the world are interested in and fascinated with different sporting activities. What is popular in the USA is not in Europe, evident in American football and baseball. Cricket is the biggest in Asia. Football is by far the biggest sport in Europe and South America. However, some sports are present almost everywhere and in much the same capacity. One of those is horse racing, an exclusive and expensive sport reserved for those of higher status and deeper pockets. It is a difficult sport to get into, and an even more difficult one to get good at.
Owning horses in the modern day and age is expensive and the fact that you also need a whole team around it for it to compete makes things even more complex. Therefore, it is beloved by the richest countries and individuals on the planet. One of the biggest cups in the world is the Saudi Cup in Saudi Arabia and the 2025 iteration will soon be upon us. If you are a fan of sports and want to experience more than the traditional ones like tennis, football, and basketball, why not get into horse racing as a fan? It is particularly interesting as an online sports betting hobby because of the different races and tournaments that are going on all over the world.
What is the Saudi Cup?
First introduced in 2020, the Saudi Cup is an international horse racing event held annually towards the end of February. It takes place at the King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and it is the richest horse race in history. This is due to its incredible $20 million purse, half of which goes to the 1st place. The Saudi Cup is the main highlight race of the Saudi Cup Night, a series of eight thoroughbred horse races and one Purebred Arabian race annually held at this racetrack. Although barely 5 years old, it is the most lucrative and sought-after event in all of horse racing and the dream of every jockey and team to participate in and win.
The Saudi Cup is made with attention to other major races in the world. It takes place four weeks after the Pegasus World Cup in Florida ($3 million) and four weeks before the Dubai World Cup ($12 million). This means that horses from these two races are available and eligible to compete in Riyadh and they frequently do. The race has a Group 1 status, the highest level of races in the thoroughbred horse racing. It got this prestigious recognition before the 2022 competition, its third running.
Apart from the race itself, the festival also offers cultural events under the guidance and organization of the Ministry of Culture. The attendees dress in styles inspired by the rich heritage costumes from around the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as the country is officially called. Each year, three distinct uniforms and garments are selected. Apart from this, the event also features traditional food, live music and concerts, art shows and exhibitions, and performances. In the 2024 race, the fastest time ever was recorded when Senor Buscador finished it in 1:49.50.
The 2025 Saudi Cup Details
If you are looking to get into the sport and start watching the best jockeys and horses compete in the most prestigious race on the planet, you will not have to wait long. The 2025 race is taking place on February 21 and 22, just over a month away from now. The opening night of the event is Friday the 21, and the Saudi Cup race takes place the next night, Saturday the 22.
Apart from the race, many other events and a rich schedule await the visitors. Last time around in 2024, there was a live music event with traditional folk performances and contemporary acts with DJs. Saheel, a contemporary music performance about exploring the relationship between purebred Arabian horses and local people, was the highlight. There were reflection and light show performances, fashion shows with a walk of fame, and a glambot robotic camera photoshoot. Guests can enjoy numerous restaurants and club rooms for their comfort and leisure.
The dress code is particularly important, and strict, and all visitors need to respect it. Casual attire, both Saudi and non-Saudi, is not permitted. This includes jeans, T-shirts, shorts, and promotional clothing for both men and women. The dress code for men encourages traditional and heritage attire including a bisht, a sayah, and a daglah for men, and elaborate thobe and darrah for women complete with colors, sleeves, embroidery, layers, and headdresses.
The Runners in 2025
There will be 28 individual Group 1 winners entering the blockbuster Saudi Cup 2025. Initially, there were 1123 total entries, with 81 Group or Grade 1 winners from 21 countries. The total prize money this time around is set at $38.1 million. Some of the best horses currently competing will be attending, including last year’s Dubai World Cup winner Laurel River, and Breeder’s Cup Classic winner Sierra Leone. The world’s #1 Romantic Warrior will also be there, as well as Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan and last year’s Saudi Cup champion Senor Buscador. What a lineup that will be.
Other notable runners include 2024 Saudi Derby winner Forever Young and Japan Derby winner Danon Decile. El Kodigo, a five-time Argentine G1 winner, also entered, as did Soul Of An Angel, the star of Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint. While it may seem trivial, horse racing betting depends greatly on knowing the names of the horses and their track record. It would be a great idea to do some homework and explore the lineup in greater depth. There is enough time to do that before the race starts in about a month and a half.
Current Odds
While it is still a bit early for the most accurate odds, sportsbooks are working tirelessly to bring users the best insight into which horse can take this year’s prestigious Saudi Cup and walk away millions richer. If you want to make your betting slip right now, here are the current odds. Forever Young leads with 3.75 odds, followed by Siera Leone at 4.00. Fierceness is sitting at 6.00 odds in third and Laurel River is at 7.00 right behind. Rounding up the top five at the moment is Romantic Warrior with the odds of 9.00. Last year’s winner, Senor Buscador, is not even in the top twenty as his odds are 41.00. In the top ten are Locked at 13.00, White Abarrio at 15.00, Ushba Tesoro at 17.00, Kabirkhan at 21.00, and Bookem Danno at 21.00.
How to Bet on Horse Racing?
If you mean to earn money while betting on horses, there are a lot of things you must first know. It is rather similar to betting on other sports, especially if you only want to pick the winners of the races. But that is barely scratching the surface of it all. Horse racing offers many niche bets and additional ways to wager on the outcome of jockey and horse performance. Here, we will bring it closer to you and reveal the best strategies and bets to choose from with this prestigious upcoming Saudi Cup 2025 race.
Types of Bets
Horse racing has a few different bet types you should pay attention to and eventually try to win. The most straightforward bet is the win bet where you select a horse to win the race. If your chosen horse finishes first, you win the bet. The place bet is when you bet on a horse to finish in one of the top two positions, so either to win or come second. If the horse comes in either of the first two spots, you win. Then there is the show bet which adds one more place to the bet as you wager on the horse finishing in the top three positions. It is a much safer bet of course than both the win and place bets, and the payouts are accordingly smaller. In case your horse ends first, second, or third, you walk away with the payout.
Taking the betting a step further implies adding more horses and trying to predict their position at the end of the race. The exacta bet allows the bettors to pick the horses that will finish in the top two positions, in the exact order. So you pick one to finish first, and another to finish second. It is very difficult to win but its payout is huge. The quinella bet is similar to the exacta, but the horses you pick can finish in any order. As long as one is first and the other is second, you win the money. Trifecta bets add a third horse and the bet is for the three horses to finish in the top three positions in the exact order. Add one more horse and try to predict the top four finishers in exact order, and that is the superfecta bet. This one is the hardest to win of course.
There are other types of bets too, namely the daily double bet where you choose the winners of two consecutive races. The main challenge here is that both selections need to win for you to collect the payout. It is a higher-stakes betting and usually what experienced veteran punters opt for for a longer day at the tracks. Pick 3, pick 4, and pick 6 add more races to this system where you predict three, four, or six consecutive races and their winners. Multi-race bets offer large payouts and require a lot of strategy, prediction, and data analysis by the bettor. Finally, accumulator or parlay bets combine multiple selections into one wager with the payout increasing with each selection. However, if one of them loses, the entire bet is lost.
Strategies for a More Successful Saudi Cup 2025 Betting
Most of the strategies for horse racing bets you make at Stake.com revolve around the person doing enough research in their own time and following the sport in general. Most of this research revolves around the horses and jockeys. One needs to study the form of the horses, their past performance, the conditions of the race, and the jockey’s experience. The surface of the track matters, and so do the distance and the location. Horses with a good history on specific tracks and under certain conditions will probably perform equally as well in a similar race. Experienced jockeys are far more reliable bets than newcomers and aspiring youngsters.
Horses that can be considered as classy, i.e. who perform well at higher levels of competition like the Saudi Cup in this case, outperform those that do not usually attend high-end races. It takes experience with specific distances and surfaces of these events for them to continuously perform well. If you know the layout of the race, you will know which horses perform better there. Turf and dirt are very different and horses have their preferences, just like the jockeys. Speaking of preferences, consider the trainer of the horses as some specialists prepare the animals specifically for certain conditions or races and those horses outperform everyone else.
There is also the issue of always betting on the favorite. With horse racing, that is not always the most profitable or logical move. Seek horses that are a bit undervalued or overlooked by the general betting public despite having strong potential. It is a smart move to often place your wagers on horses with a higher-than-expected chance of winning based on their form and odds. You should also think about spreading your bets and opt to place smaller agers on a variety of horses with different odds. A combination of win, palace, and show bets, or exacta and trifecta bets, is how you can protect your finances and end up losing less/winning more. Always take care of your bankroll and pay attention to your betting budget!
