HORSERACING – A doubling in the prize fund to $400,000 for the Group Three King’s Cup was the highlight as the Bahrain Turf Club unveiled yesterday details of the upcoming 2025-26 season.
The King’s Cup and its accompanying two-day festival provide the climax to the kingdom’s international racing season and the substantial prize money increase follows the upgrading of the race to Group Three status.
In conjunction with the boost in value to the King’s Cup, the international race programme has also been strengthened, creating a clearly signposted ‘road to the King’s Cup’ – a pathway throughout the season for higher-rated horses over both a mile and middle-distances, culminating in the $120,000 Listed Al Methaq Mile and the $400,000 Group Three King’s Cup, run over a mile-and-a-half (2,400m) on March 6.
Bahrain Turf Club CEO Yusuf Buheji said: “As the quality of international horses attracted to compete in Bahrain improves, we want to ensure there are attractive and valuable options available to owners and trainers outside of the now-established Bahrain Turf Series races.”
This has led to a strengthening of the international programme and the developing of a ‘road to the King’s Cup’, which takes in the Crown Prince’s Cup and other premier races.“
“The King’s Cup, run in honour of His Majesty King Hamad bin, is the most prestigious prize in the kingdom’s racing calendar. The introduction of floodlights last year enabled us to create the King’s Cup Festival, with consecutive nights of high-class racing and international competition.
“Our goal is to keep developing and improving the quality of racing in Bahrain, together with the facilities, thereby making Bahrain an even more attractive and compelling proposition to international visitors.”
The headline race in the first half of the season remains the Bahrain International Trophy, with the $1million Group Two contest taking place this year on November 14.
Broadcast to more than 100 countries, the 2024 running attracted horses from six different racing jurisdictions and history was made when Spirit Dancer, trained by Richard Fahey and co-owned by Sir Alex Ferguson, became the first horse to retain the trophy, beating subsequent Group One winner Lead Artist in the process.
The popular and competitive Bahrain Turf Series returns with 12 races, worth a total of $1m and a further $80,000 available in bonuses. With both sprint and middle-distance events, the series gets underway on December 19 and concludes with two handicaps, each worth $100,000, at the King’s Cup Festival in March.
Last season, the two $40,000 bonuses for the connections of the respective series winners went to UK-based trainers after Hugo Palmer’s Roman Dragon accumulated the most points in the sprint races and Marco Botti’s Soldier’s Empire won the middle-distance series.
The launch of the upcoming 2025-26 season coincides with the Bahrain Turf Club’s annual sponsorship at the Debenhams July Festival at Newmarket. Bahrain is the longest-standing sponsor at the meeting, having supported the Bahrain Trophy since 1991 and now also sponsors the Group Two Kingdom of Bahrain July Stakes and Group Two Princess of Wales’s Stakes on the opening day of the festival.
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