King Abdulaziz Racecourse

King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh is Saudi Arabia's premier horse racing facility and the venue for the Saudi Cup — the richest horse race in the world at $20 million in total prize money, introduced in 2020 and instantly establishing itself as the most valuable single race on the global calendar. The Riyadh track, operated by the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia (JCSA) and located approximately 20 kilometres east of central Riyadh in the Al Diriyah district, is a modern facility built to international Grade 1 standards with a 1,800m dirt track, a turf course, and facilities designed to host the international racing community for the Saudi Cup meeting in February of each year. The Saudi Cup programme has grown from a single headline race into a multi-day international festival — the Saudi Cup Night card includes the $20m Saudi Cup (dirt, 1,800m), the $5m Saudi Turf Cup (turf, 1,950m, attracting European turf specialists), the $2.5m Neom Turf Cup (turf, 1,350m), and the $1.5m 1351 Turf Cup — with a combined prize pot that rivals Dubai World Cup Night as the world's richest single race card. The Saudi Cup's significance has grown rapidly: in 2023 and 2024, the race attracted the Breeders' Cup Classic winner, multiple Japanese champions, leading European trainers, and the world's top jockeys — transforming it from a novel experiment into a genuinely landmark race on the international calendar. Saudi Arabia's horse racing culture has deep Bedouin roots in Arabian and Thoroughbred breeding that predate the modern racing programme by centuries. The JCSA operates racing at King Abdulaziz Racecourse and at the Jeddah track (King Abdulaziz Racecourse Jeddah) through a domestic racing calendar that runs from October to April, avoiding the extreme summer heat of the Arabian Peninsula's interior.