Saudi’s King Abdul Aziz racecourse was the scene of a memorable Saudi Cup race.

The two highly fancied runners, Hong Kong's Romantic Warrior  and Japan's Forever Young went head to head down the straight until Forever Young drew on some extra strength and got the victory.

Some are suggesting that J Mac on Romantic Warrior went too soon but it is never that simple.  His ability to tackle the surface came into question although there were no problems in this regard during the race but Forever Young has won on this track previously in winning the Derby here last year and has had much more experience on dirt tracks. His jockey Sakai-san rode a superb race (as he had done earlier on Shin Emperor) and his timing was spot on.

They were only a neck apart and it was 10 ½ lengths back to the Tesoros – Ushban running a blinder and Wilson also a great fun so three Japanese horses in the first four.

It was trainer Yahagi's second Saudi Cup which is an amazing record in itself.  Both trainer and jockey had a double on the night with Shin Emperor in the Neom Turf Cup.

The Japanese featured in other finishes with Shin Forever running second to Golden Verkoma in the Derby, Ascoli Piceno winning the turf sprint just ahead of compatriot Win Marvel.

The atmosphere at the track was fantastic and fortunately the weather didn't get too cool although there is a noticeable drop in temperature after sunset but us Canberrans know all about that and we are at similar altitudes.  There is something magic about the desert sky at night and there was certainly lots of magic on the track as well.