RIYADH: Recently crowned Longines World’s Best Jockey James McDonald will line up at the 2025 International Jockeys’ Challenge at King Abdulaziz Racecourse on Feb. 21, the day before he bids for Saudi Cup glory aboard Romantic Warrior. 

It is the first time the globetrotting New Zealander, who has ridden 106 Group 1 winners in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, the UK and Japan, will compete in Saudi Arabia.

McDonald has forged a much-lauded partnership with the record-breaking, three-time Hong Kong Cup winner Romantic Warrior. Following the IJC he will attempt to guide the world’s highest-earning racehorse to victory in the $20m Saudi Cup on Feb. 22.

An array of global stars headlines this year’s IJC, with seven male and seven female riders.

John Velazquez, who has well over 6,000 winners in the USA to his name, including six Classic victories, will make his debut after riding on Saudi Cup night last year.

Another global superstar making his IJC debut is Christophe Soumillon. The Belgian has taken a handful of rides at King Abdulaziz Racecourse over the years, with a single success back in 2004.

Top British rider Hollie Doyle, a dual Group 1 winner in the UK and Ireland last year, returns to ride in her second IJC after competing in 2021. She will be joined by four-time British Champion Jockey Oisin Murphy, who finished third in last year’s Group 3 Longines Red Sea Turf Handicap aboard Giavellotto before going on to guide the Marco Botti charge to success in last month’s Group 1 Hong Kong Vase at Sha Tin.

Australia-based British rider Rachel King is no stranger to the big stage. A multiple Group 1-winning jockey in Australia, she also recently secured a Group 3 victory in Japan.

Maryline Eon will return to defend her IJC title, having claimed the prize last year when finishing seven points clear of Saudi Arabia-based rider Camilo Ospina. She will be joined by the winner of the inaugural IJC in 2020, Germany-based Sibylle Vogt, who will be competing in her third IJC.

The UAE-based Irish rider Tadhg O’Shea, whose biggest success to date came on 2024 Dubai World Cup champion Laurel River, will make his IJC debut.

McDonald’s New Zealand compatriot, Kelly Myers, is another riding in the IJC for the first time and will be joined by 22-year-old Canada-based Sofia Vives and Japan’s Manami Nagashina, also 22 years old. Both Vives and Nagashina come to the Kingdom on the back of outstanding seasons, where both celebrated their first Graded successes.

The IJC line up will be completed by two leading Saudi Arabia-based riders to be announced at a later date.

Riders will compete for points across the four IJC races, with the jockey that amasses the most points emerging victorious. In each race, 15 points will be awarded for first place, 10 for second, seven for third, four for fourth and the fifth placed rider will receive two points.

The first two IJC races will be run on the dirt track at King Abdulaziz Racecourse, while legs three and four will take place on the turf track. Each race is worth a total of $400,000.

LONDON: Alexander Isak fired Newcastle into the Premier League’s top four on Wednesday, scoring twice in a 3-0 cruise against Wolves as David Moyes endured a miserable return to the Everton dugout.
Red-hot Isak found the net for the eighth league match in a row as the Magpies leapfrogged faltering Chelsea into fourth spot in the table.
The Swedish international put the home side ahead in the 34th minute when his shot took a huge deflection off Wolves defender Rayan Ait-Nouri, leaving Jose Sa wrong-footed.
The striker is just the fourth different player to score in eight successive Premier League appearances, after Jamie Vardy (twice for Leicester), Ruud van Nistelrooy (twice for Manchester United), and Daniel Sturridge (for Liverpool).
Isak doubled Newcastle’s lead shortly before the hour mark, controlling Bruno Guimaraes’ pass before firing home for his 15th league goal of the season and Anthony Gordon added a third.
Eddie Howe’s men, who have now won six straight league games, have recovered strongly from a lengthy poor spell to make a powerful case for a Champions League spot next season.
Taking advantage of the faltering form of Manchester City and Chelsea, they are just three points behind third-placed Nottingham Forest.
Moyes, in the first game of his second spell in charge of Everton, watched his toothless side lose 1-0 to Aston Villa at Goodison Park.
Ollie Watkins broke the deadlock in the 51st minute, slotting past England teammate Jordan Pickford after he was sent clear by Morgan Rogers.
Everton huffed and puffed but showed a lack of creativity — unsurprising for a team who have scored just 15 league goals in their 20 matches this season.
The result lifts Unai Emery’s Villa to seventh in the table but Everton remain in deep trouble, just one point above the relegation zone in 16th spot.
The Liverpool club’s new owners, the American-based Friedkin Group, sacked Sean Dyche last week and brought back 61-year-old Moyes, who enjoyed success during an 11-year stint at Goodison Park from 2002 to 2013.
But the Toffees, ever-present in the top flight since 1954, have battled relegation for the past three seasons and are once again in deep trouble.
Ruud van Nistelrooy’s Leicester suffered their sixth straight league defeat, losing 2-0 to Crystal Palace to leave the Foxes second from bottom of the table.
Jean-Philippe Mateta put the visitors ahead early in the second half and Marc Guehi made the points safe with a late second.
Arsenal, winless in three matches in all competitions, are hosting injury-hit Tottenham in the late kick-off on Wednesday.