Multiple G1-winning trainer Jimmy Jerkens is preparing for his second Riyadh season since making the move to Saudi Arabia in the summer of 2023.
Jerkens, who saddled seven winners from 47 runners at Saudi’s summer racecourse in Taif this year, is looking to better last season’s total of 18 winners across the Riyadh season, which gets underway on Thursday [Oct 17].
“It’s always the aim to beat last season’s total and keep doing better,” said the 65-year-old trainer. “It’s a long meet though and I’m sure it will be up and down like it always is.
“We ended up having a decent meet [in Taif],” he went on. “We were quiet for about six weeks in and around August – we started out like gangbusters, then we got quiet but we finished up good in the last week.”
The son of Hall of Fame trainer Allen Jerkens, Jimmy Jerkens saddled numerous top-level performers during his career at home in the US, including Breeders’ Cup winners Artie Schiller and Corinthian, plus Classic runner-up Effinex and Florida Derby hero Quality Road, who has become such a successful stallion.
After 26 years training in New York, he announced in April 2023 that he was to take up a two-year contract in Saudi Arabia.
Assessing his recent summer efforts, Jekens added: “We didn’t over-race anything at Taif. I think only one horse of mine ran four times up there – that’s not an extraordinary amount.
“Those horses that are coming from Taif are often good and fit, so you probably don’t have to work those horses so hard. For one, the track is a lot faster and they’re in condition from running up there, so you’ve got to be careful not to overdo it.
“If the right race is there, it would be a shame to wait and not run them, because our horses are fit but not overdone, so we should be in good shape.”
Jerkens is looking to make a quick start when racing gets underway at King Abdulaziz Racecourse, Riyadh on Thursday.
Jerkens said: “We have a bunch ready to run right away. Ancestral Land is a horse we’ve run twice in Taif, and his last race there was very good, when he finished sixth in a 75-91 handicap.
“The first time he ran he got pretty tired and the second time he did too, but he ran a lot further than the first time. Now we’re looking to run him in a race for horses that have won 0-1 races, so he should be tough in there.
“Another horse we bought at the same sale was Tchaicovsky, by Bated Breath. He’s a three-year-old and he’s going to run in a 0-1 [for horses that have won no more than once] also in the first week.”
One horse Jerkens is particularly looking forward to this season is a new recruit for HRH Prince Faisal bin Khaled bin Abdualaziz’s Red Stable operation, a Not This Time colt called Tireless bought from the USA.
He explained: “We bought Tireless in the Kentucky Racing Age Sale that Todd Pletcher had – he was an $850,000 yearling for St Elias and Repole Stables, two big wheels back home.
“He didn’t really work out, he broke his maiden and then ran so-so in allowance races. Anyway, they put him in the sales and we bought him for $140,000. He took a long time to get adjusted here, he wasn’t travelling very well and he wasn’t carrying the flesh that he was, but he’s finally on the right track now.
“We’re hoping to have a good season with him. He should be ready to start within the month. There’s not a whole lot to him, he doesn’t carry much excess flesh, so he won’t take as long to prepare as some. He’s not a plodder, he’s got some speed. He can lay up in a forward position as long as the race is long enough.”
Several older stars are expected to fly the flag for the Jerkens yard this season, including last season’s Crown Prince Cup (domestic G1) winner My Frankel, who was formerly trained by Sir Michael Stoute in the UK, as well as another former Stoute horse, Derevo and Italian G3 winner Grocer Jack.
“My Frankel will be back,” said Jerkens. “We had him going pretty serious in Taif but he ended up having some foot trouble – we lost two weeks with him and had to wait for him to grow some foot. He’s doing good now.
“Derevo is ready to go. He ran third in Taif and then was fifth. He’s one that’s a lot better in Riyadh. I’m sure he’ll do much better here.
“We’re in a little spot with Grocer Jack because last season he ran good first time on the dirt but then he didn’t run so good before he won on the turf.
“If we run him on the dirt and he doesn’t do so well then his rating will come down and he might not qualify for some of the good turf races, so we’ll have to work out what to do there.”
The Riyadh season begins on Thursday [Oct 17] and will run until Saturday March 15, 2025, featuring a total of 62 race meetings and 710 races.
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