Saudi Cup DQ 'Automatic' If Maximum Security Received Performance-Enhancing Drugs Within Six Months
The winner's circle around Maximum Security after the Saudi Cup
Martin Dokoupil/Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia photo
The Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia announced on Aug. 10 that prize money from the inaugural Saudi Cup would be held back from connections of the inaugural winner of the Saudi Cup, Maximum Security, due to the sealed federal indictment of then-trainer Jason Servis. Purse funds are to be distributed to those finishing second or lower.
Co-owner Gary West responded publicly, calling the decision "unprecedented" and requesting further transparency into the JSCA's investigation.
During a conversation with Nick Luck's daily podcast on Tuesday, HRH Prince Bandar bin Khalid Al Faisal, chairman of the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia (JCSA), described the process by which Maximum Security would be disqualified from his Feb. 29 victory in the $20 million race.
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"If the results (of the federal investigation into Jason Servis) come out where they have concrete evidence that Maximum Security received performance enhancing drugs of any kind within the previous six months of the Saudi Cup, then by the race book and our own rules in the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia, that is an automatic disqualification of a horse," he explained.
Prince Bandar said he sympathized with the owners of Maximum Security, but reiterated the need to apply JCSA rules consistently across the board. He also said that the federal indictment, which was announced shortly after the Saudi Cup race, fueled objections from connections of horses finishing below Maximum Security, which then caused the JCSA to launch their own investigation.
The U.S. federal investigation has been slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Prince Bandar added, so right now the JCSA is still awaiting its results to be publicized before handing down the prize money to Maximum Security's connections.
