RIYADH, KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA — Owner Al Gold knows that you can't win if you don't play, and the New Jersey native has not one, but two cracks at a nice payday on Saturday's Saudi Cup undercard at King Abdulaziz Racecourse here in Riyadh.
Gold, who did not make the trip over to Saudi Arabia, but will be watching from the comfort of his winter home in Florida, campaigns Cyclone State (McKinzie) in partnership with George Messina and Michael Lee, as the $70,000 Keeneland September yearling looks to extend his current winning streak to four in the G3 Saudi Derby, the first of six group races on a program featuring an eye-watering $34 million in prize money. A few races later on the card, Howard Wolowitz (Munnings) will carry the owner's colors in the G2 1351 Turf Sprint.
Gold paid $240,000 for Howard Wolowitz from the consignment of Clarkland Farm at the 2022 Keeneland January Sale.
“Chad Summers picked out this horse, the Munnings, and liked him very much,” Gold said. “We look at the physical first, the page second. We watched the walk. The walk was great. Everything about the horse, we liked. The poise, the way he walked through everything. We were fortunate enough to get him.”
Howard Wolowitz | Neville Hopwood/Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia
Three months after acquiring the Munnings colt, Gold celebrated one of his most memorable victories as an owner when Cyberknife (Gun Runner) struck from close range in the GI Arkansas Derby, and in a backwards sort of way, that colt played a role in the naming of his new purchase.
“Well, actually, what happened was I was going to the Arkansas Derby with and my wife and another couple, and the plane started shaking and making all kinds of noise,” he began, “and we had to go back and never made it there, so I named this horse Cabin Pressure originally, at that time and that moment. He really wasn't doing much in his training and then I was watching 'Big Bang Theory', I said, 'Let's change the name to Howard Wolowitz,' so we changed the name, and he got a lot better all of a sudden.”
Howard Wolowitz didn't do much running in a six-furlong maiden on the dirt to begin his career and soon found himself in the barn of Jose D'Angelo, who insisted that what Gold had on his hands was a horse crying out for a surface switch.
After graduating by a wide margin over the Gulfstream Tapeta track last June, Howard Wolowitz was a troubled fourth in the Mahony Stakes at Saratoga in August, then validated 3-1 favoritism in the GI Franklin-Simpson Stakes at Kentucky Downs. Howard Wolowitz also didn't have much luck in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, finishing three lengths' ninth.
American Grade 1 winner Howard Wolowitz leading the international horses to the track in Riyadh on Wednesday morning. @TheSaudiCup pic.twitter.com/mVCJYNlvcd
— Adrian Beaumont (@AdrianBeaumont) February 19, 2025
“He's really not a five-furlong horse,” Gold suggested. “Those were very tough horses. He went wide on the turn, checked back to last, so you can't make a ground at Del Mar from being last at the top of the lane. That he only lost by three lengths was a testament to the horse's talent.”
Howard Wolowitz bounced back in no uncertain terms with a towering victory in the Holiday Inaugural Stakes at Turfway Park when last seen Dec. 14. Emisael Jaramillo, in the irons last time, rides the colt on Saturday.
Cyclone State | Coglianese
Iowa-bred Cyclone State has punched well above his weight and carries a record of 3-1-0 from four starts at a mile–all around one turn–heading into Saturday's Saudi Derby.
“There's a lot of tough horses here in America, and we hear the track [in Saudi Arabia] can be a little speed-favoring,” Gold said of Cyclone State, who is trained by Summers. “He's going to be out there winging, and we hope he's good enough to handle those.”
Beaten in the dying strides of a one-mile maiden at Aqueduct by future GII Remsen Stakes runner-up Aviator Gui (Uncle Mo) back in September, Cyclone State broke through Nov. 3 and added a Dec. 6 allowance at odds-on. Clear by as many as eight lengths entering the final furlong of the Jerome, the bay easily held sway to punch his ticket to Saturday's Saudi Derby. Luis Rivera, Jr., in the irons for Cyclone State's last three wins, comes in from New York to ride.
Gold said that neither horse has as-yet been invited to the Dubai World Cup meeting on Apr. 5, but that both would be considered for their respective races if offered the opportunity. In the meantime, Howard Wolowitz and Cyclone State will be looking to uphold the 'Gold' standard in the Saudi desert.
CYCLONE STATE went out for an easy gallop this Wednesday morning for trainer @horsesummers under exercise rider Jesus Mangual. Following this, the colt showed nice behavior during gate schooling.
CYCLONE STATE realizó vuelta y media de galope esta mañana del Miércoles para el… pic.twitter.com/AY9hJiL791
— Agentes305 (@agentes305) February 19, 2025
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