2024 Saudi Derby Tips

Forever Young boasts a 100% success rate when it comes to a short career to date, with the three-year-old having claimed back to back victories leading up to the Saudi Derby. There was a victory at Mombetsu for the horse over one mile and one furlong before a seven-length win in the Yushun Open, with the runner now operating for the first time as a three-year-old.

That recent win was by seven lengths and it’s clear that the horse will be suited to the one mile trip here, with Book Em Danno likely to travel over from the United States to take his place in the field here. He was able to beat four other rivals at Belmont Park in the Grade 3 Futurity Stakes in October and could go well in Dubai.

Set Up has a little more experience and will travel over from Japan to hopefully establish himself as a leading three-year-old. There were back to back wins in Sapporo last year before the runner lined up in a more competitive race in Hanshin. Seventh out of seventeen runners wasn’t a bad result given the high-profile nature of the encounter.

Masato Nishizono trains Satono Phoenix and the three-year-old was initially successful in a race at Hanshin in September before a second-placed finish when running at Sonoda. More recently, there was a fifth-placed finish out of twelve runners in the Yushun Open which means the horse has over twelve lengths to find on the favourite.

2023 Saudi Derby Betting Tips

Havnameltdown is clearly the horse with the best credentials in the race. The three-year-old was able to secure a victory in the San Vicente Stakes at Santa Anita on 29 January, with this win coming against three other horses over seven furlongs. There was a one and a half length win against Faustin, with the runner previously winning the Bob Hope Stakes at Del Mar.

There’s an element of the unknown about these young horses and the favourite has done all his running in America thus far, with Derma Sotogake one of many Japanese raiders who are heading to Riyadh to compete at this meeting. A win in Kawasaki last December certainly laid bare his credentials, with the horse winning a local Group 1 encounter.

Bob Baffert has more than one lively chance in this race and Speed Boat Beach is clearly another classy operator who might have enough to beat his rivals. The horse was sent off as the 17/10 favourite in the Cecil B Demille Stakes and didn’t disappoint when landing the honours in this Grade 3 encounter on the turf.

The other Japanese runners who have a chance include Continuar who runs for Yoshito Yahagi, with this regarded as a strong each-way prospect, while Hideyuki Mori goes into this race mob-handed thanks to having Ecoro Ares and From Dusk lining up for a race where there are lots of different ways to bet on this horse race.