Ospina set to win Taif jockey championship

TAIF Camilo Ospina is poised to become Taif Summer Season's champion jockey as 10 weeks of racing come to an end with the King Khalid Racecourse Championships on Sept 27.

Although the Colombian rider is without a mount in the final event of the campaign, he has won 20 races, seven clear of his nearest rivals, with victory all but assured.

A record-breaking figure in Arabian racing with over 1,000 career wins, the experienced Ospina is the go-to jockey for the sons of King Abdullah and is always in the spotlight during the season.

The 300,000 riyals (S$103,000) King Khalid Racecourse Championship for older horses over 1,600m brings the curtain down on the summer season before racing resumes in Riyadh on Oct 16, and many familiar names have been declared among the 17 runners.

Adel Alfouraidi's mount Waqtuk is top-rated with the Tuwaiq Cup runner-up on a hat-trick bid after his two Taif wins including when beating the reopposing Final Destination and Ibn Toulon, among others, in the King Khalid Racecourse Championship Prep earlier.

In addition to Final Destination, trainer Thamer Aldaihani also sends out Uncle for owner Sheikh Abdullah Homoud Almalek Alsabah, while the Red Stable team of Prince Faisal bin Khaled bin Abdulaziz has four runners including the highly-rated Salfan who makes a belated return to action.

Nine contest the 300,000 riyals King Khalid Racecourse Championship for fillies and mares over 1,400m, with Ospina primed to add to his seasonal haul on the White Stable of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz & Sons' Aeadat.

The six-year-old mare has not tasted defeat since March 2024 and is aiming for a remarkable 10th straight win and her third of the Taif campaign.

Her main rival appears to be fellow White Stable runner and Alfouraidi's mount Halaa, who was fourth in the Group 2 Riyadh Dirt Sprint (1,200m) at the Saudi Cup meeting and had Ospina in the plate on her only start of this term when second on July 26.

The King Khalid Racecourse Championship for Purebred Arabians is also worth 300,000 riyals and could be another big win for trainer Nasser Mutlaq with Mutwakel Alkhalediah following on from Tilal AI Khalediah's triumph last weekend.

Mutwakel Alkhalediah is top-rated in the 10-strong field but has not been seen since August 2023, with recent fitness and form resting with the Fahad Alfouraidi-ridden Turki Al Khalediah II, who beat several of his rivals on Sept 12.

Ospina has another standout chance on Saturday with White Stable's unbeaten Kanzie who is looking for a third success in the 150,000 riyals JCSA Challenge, in which the Red Stable has Taif Sprint Cup winner Newtown Runner stepping back up to 1,600m under Nawaf Almudiani.

Friday's (Sept 26) card also has big prize money available to sprinters with three 1,200m races worth 300,000 riyals each.

The final of those is the Sprint Championship for three-year-old colts and geldings and features Aldaihani's Fouj, who has won both starts this campaign, and Alexis Moreno's mount Riyadh Central, who won an equivalent race for juveniles in 2024 and shaped well on his recent return.

Kawafill has been progressively dropped back to 1,200m on her last two starts and looks interesting in the three-year-old fillies' event, with Sprint Championship Prep winner Baseqm And Bake looking set to go close under Moreno in the Purebred Arabian race. JOCKEY CLUB OF SAUDI ARABIA