1351 Turf Sprint: How's your reef geography?

The Group 2 1351 Turf Sprint on the Saudi Cup undercard is named after both the distance of the race (approx. 6.75 furlongs) and the seminal date in the Saudi calendar that marks the birth of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (1932). Run over a unique distance, it's a fair, elongated sprint test with a long run-up into a single turn.

This year's race has attracted one of the big names of turf flat racing. Not THAT horse alas (Ka Ying Rising). But Jerome Reynier's Lazzat is a nonetheless a serious Group 1 horse, having won two major races at the highest level. He was awesome in the Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville in 2024, and again mightily impressive when besting Japan's Satono Reve in the QEII Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot last June, the pair well clear. In a prospective field of 13, he's as short as 11/8.

While Lazzat is clearly the right favourite he doesn't appeal as a bet. After all, this is the gelding who has burnt punters' fingers as a short-priced favourite on this last three runs (at 1/2, 1/1 and 2/1 for those interested in the detail). He was also turned over at 1/2 on his seasonal debut last year, as well as being beaten on his only two starts outside of Europe (close 2nd in the Golden Eagle in Australia, well-beaten 9th in the Hong Kong Mile).

Of course Lazzat could win this, being by some way the highest-rated horse in the race. But he's not a reliable type, and doesn't appeal as a betting proposition given that his price is not much more than that of the rest of the field put together.

The clear second choice in the betting is Japan's Panja Tower. This colt is talented for sure, with a Group 1 win in over a mile in May being followed by a Group 3 victory over 6 furlongs in August. We'll excuse his subsequent defeat, a 5th-place finish in this year's Golden Eagle, as he didn't get the clearest of runs on ground that was much softer than he had ever encountered before. At the time of writing he can be backed at 5/1. Maybe.

Anyhow, we'd much rather the Japanese second-favourite than third-favourite Marvelman (8/1? With just a single standout piece of form – on soft ground – to back that up?). Or co-fourth favourite Annaf, who's lovable but long in the tooth. True, he did win this race two years ago. But that was then.

The one we really like the prices is the 5-year-old Californian raider Reef Runner representing the unheralded trainer David Fawkes. He's 12/1, and we don't really understand why:

• Turf sprint specialist who has surged to another level in the last year
  

• August 2025: First past the post in the 5-furlong G3 Green Flash, a very strong race for the grade. Disqualified for bumping runner-up Motorious, a proper G1 sprinter. Placed second.
  

• September 2025: Won the G2 Eddie D at Santa Anita, his first attempt at 6.5 furlongs in more than two years (a period spanning 25 races). He won this, beating the the horses who were behind him in the Green Flash even more comprehensively.
  

• November 2025: 4th in the G1 Breeders Cup Turf Sprint when dropped back down to 5 furlongs, in a race where the front pair never came back to the field.

Reef Runner is a sprinter in his prime and at the top of his game, and we think he has a big chance here. In particular, he has the potential to perform even more strongly for the return to a longer trip, as his breeding suggest he should be best at longer than the five-furlong trip at which trainer David Fawkes has kept him too for most of the last two years. Does he have as good a chance as Lazzat? Absolutely not, but he's almost ten times the price and that looks just plain nuts.

The other horse we would like to have a wild swing at in this race is Geography for the stable of Peter Schiergen. German horses are frequently underestimated when travelling abroad, and this gelding looks to have been overlooked by bookmakers. His last four runs comprise a second to the classy Quddwah in a G3 at Chantilly, a narrow G3 win on soft terrain at Dusseldorf, an emphatic G2 win on good ground at Baden-Baden, and a decent 5th of 16 in the G1 Prix de la Foret in the mud on Arc weekend.

He's not a very likely win prospect and might find this trip (just shy of 7 furlongs) too short, but his improved form following a gelding operation gives him a squeak. More saliently, he is currently trading at the outlandish price of 50/1. That's just too big and smacks of bookmaker chauvinism.

There's no antepost risk on either wager, as the bookmakers in question are non-runner-money-back now.

Recommendations for 1351 Turf Sprint, Riyadh, 14 February

Back Reef Runner each-way @ 12/1 with Ladbrokes or Coral NRMB

Back Geography each-way @ 50/1 with Ladbrokes or Coral NRMB

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