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TAIF: Camilo Ospina is poised to become Taif Winter Season champion jockey as 10 weeks of racing come to an end with the King Khalid Racecourse Championships on Saturday.

Although the Colombian rider is without a mount in the final event of the campaign, he has amassed 20 winners and is seven clear of his nearest rivals, so victory looks assured.

The SR300,000 ($80,000) King Khalid Racecourse Championship for older horses over 1600m brings the curtain down on the summer season before racing resumes in Riyadh on Oct. 16, and many familiar names have been declared among the 17 runners.

Adel Al-Fouraidi’s mount Waqtuk (USA) is top-rated with the Tuwaiq Cup runner-up on a hat-trick bid after his two Taif wins, including when beating the reopposing Final Destination (GB) and Ibn Toulon (KSA) among others in the King Khalid Racecourse Championship Prep earlier this month.

In addition to Final Destination, trainer Thamer Al-Daihani also sends out Uncle (GB) for owner Sheikh Abdullah Homoud Almalek Al-Sabah, while the Red Stable team of Prince Faisal bin Khaled bin Abdulaziz has four runners, including the highly rated Salfan (KSA), who makes a belated return to action.

Nine will go to post in the SR300,000 King Khalid Racecourse Championship for fillies and mares over 1400m with Ospina primed to add to his seasonal haul on the White Stables of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz & Sons’ Aeadat (KSA).

The 6-year-old mare hasn’t tasted defeat since March of last year and looks for a remarkable 10th straight win and her third of the Taif campaign.

Her main rival appears to be fellow White Stables runner and Al-Fouraidi’s mount Halaa (USA), who was fourth in the Group 2 Riyadh Dirt Sprint at The Saudi Cup meeting and had Ospina in the plate on her only start of this term when second on July 26.

The King Khalid Racecourse Championship for Purebred Arabians is also worth SR300,000 and could be another big win for trainer Nasser Mutlaq with Mutwakel Al-Khalediah (KSA) following on from Tilal Al-Khalediah’s (KSA) triumph last weekend.

Mutwakel Al-Khalediah is top-rated in the 10-strong field but hasn’t been seen since August 2023, with recent fitness and form resting with the Fahad Al-Fouraidi-ridden Turki Al-Khalediah II (KSA), who beat several of his rivals on Sept. 12.

Ospina has another stand-out chance on Saturday with White Stable’s unbeaten Kanzie (USA), who looks for a third success in the SR150,000 JCSA Challenge, in which the Red Stables have Taif Sprint Cup winner Newtown Runner (USA) stepping back up to 1600m under Nawaf Al-Mudiani.

Friday’s card also has big prize money available to the sprint specialists, with three races over 1200m each offering SR300,000.

The final of those is the Sprint Championship for 3-year-old colts and geldings and features Al-Daihani’s Fouj (USA), who has won both starts this campaign, and Alexis Moreno’s mount, Riyadh Central (USA), who won an equivalent race for juveniles last year and shaped well on his recent return.

Kawafill (KSA) has been dropped back to 1200m on her last two starts and looks interesting in the 3-year-old fillies’ event, with Sprint Championship Prep winner Baseqm And Bake (USA) looking set to go close under Moreno in the Purebred Arabian race.

The Afghan women’s refugee team will take the field for the first time in an international tournament when they compete in a four-team friendly competition in the United Arab Emirates next month, world governing body FIFA said on Wednesday.
The team’s creation stems from the Taliban’s ban on women’s sports following their takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, prompting players to flee the country fearing persecution.
The “FIFA Unites: Women’s Series” tournament will run from October 23-29 in Dubai and feature the nearly-formed Afghan refugee squad alongside the UAE, Chad and Libya’s regular teams.
“Ensuring that all women have access to football is a priority for FIFA and a key element in shaping the future of our sport,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in a statement.
“We are aware of the potential the game has both on and off the pitch. These friendly matches represent more than just a competition; they are a symbol of hope and progress for women all over the world.”
Prior to the Taliban’s takeover, Afghanistan had 25 women players under contract, most of whom now live in Australia.
Afghanistan’s men’s team continues as normal.
FIFA has run several talent identification camps around the world to choose a 23-player women’s squad.