RIYADH: The post position draw for the $20 million Saudi Cup has been made with the trainers of one of the favorites, American horse Charlatan, calling his No. 9 slot ideal.

The draw to assign the starting stalls for the horses is chosen at random, and the reactions to the placings was understandably mixed.

The world鈥檚 richest horse race will take place at 8:40 p.m. (Saudi time) on Saturday at King Abdul Aziz Racecourse in Riyadh.

Here are some of the thoughts on the draw from the trainers of all 14 horses taking part.

Bangkok (IRE) 鈥� (Drawn in stall 2) 鈥� Anna Lisa Balding, assistant trainer, said: 鈥淚t will be difficult, but we鈥檒l do as well as we can.鈥�

Charlatan (US) 鈥� (9) 鈥� Jimmy Barnes, assistant trainer, said: 鈥淚 spoke to Bob (Baffert, trainer) earlier and he said anything, six, seven, eight, or nine would be perfect. The one turn mile and an eighth would just be perfect.鈥�

Chuwa Wizard (JPN) 鈥� (1) 鈥� Keita Tosaki, jockey, said: 鈥淗e is a versatile horse and can run from any position. So, the inside draw may help us.鈥�

Derevo (GB) 鈥� (13) 鈥� See Great Scot

Extra Elusive (GB) 鈥� (14) 鈥� Roger Charlton, trainer, said: 鈥淚鈥檓 happy with the draw for Extra Elusive in stall 14. He hasn鈥檛 run on the dirt before, and he鈥檚 probably a horse who doesn鈥檛 like to be crowded that much, so I think that gives him and Hollie (Doyle, jockey) a good shot down the outside. I鈥檇 certainly prefer stall 14 to stalls one or two or three, so, so far we鈥檙e happy and we鈥檙e going to give it our best shot on Saturday.鈥�

Global Giant (GB) 鈥� (6) 鈥� Isa Salman Al-Khalifa of owner Al-Adiyat Racing, said: 鈥淚t definitely would be amazing. He has been improving with every start, but he would have to run the race of his life to be competitive. It is an honor to be involved. The two winners for Bahrain at last year鈥檚 Saudi Cup was the highlight of my racing life so far.鈥�

Great Scot (GB) 鈥� (3) 鈥� Abdullah Mushrif, trainer, said: 鈥淰ery happy. More happy with Great Scot from 13. It will be hard for Derevo but inshallah we will win, it鈥檚 my dream.鈥�

Knicks Go (US) 鈥� (5) 鈥� Dustin Dugas, assistant trainer, said: 鈥淲e like it, it鈥檚 right in the middle, he鈥檚 a speed horse, it鈥檚 a long way till they get to the turn. Joel (Rosario, jockey) will have a lot of ground to work at before he gets to the turn.鈥�

Max Player (US) 鈥� (4) 鈥� Steve Asmussen, trainer, said: 鈥淲ould have preferred the outside.鈥�

Military Law (GB) 鈥� (10) 鈥� Musabbeh Al-Mheiri, trainer, said: 鈥淣ot too bad. In three, four, or five would be good, but 10 is not bad. He can鈥檛 go too fast anyway (early). When you have luck, God gives it to you.鈥�

Mishriff (IRE) 鈥� (12) 鈥� Thady Gosden, assistant trainer, said: 鈥淲e were hoping for a fairly wide draw. The American horses have far more gate speed than ours, so we鈥檙e very happy with that.鈥�

Simsir (IRE) 鈥� (11) 鈥� Fawzi Nass, trainer, said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 post 11. It鈥檚 OK. I鈥檒l let Adrie (de Vries, jockey) deal with it.鈥�

Sleepy Eyes Todd (US) 鈥� (8) 鈥� Miguel Angel Silva, trainer, said: 鈥淚 wanted to be more outside, but it鈥檚 great. It鈥檚 not perfect but it鈥檚 great. We are next to Charlatan, so that is good. We are very excited. We didn鈥檛 want to be inside so this is good, we are more to the outside.鈥�

Tacitus (US) 鈥� (7) 鈥� Neil Poznansky, assistant trainer, said: 鈥淗e has Johnny V (Velazquez) on him and the whole backside to work a trip on him.鈥�