As pre-Saudi Cup events unfurled in Riyadh, the build-up to the world’s richest race took centre stage on the Nick Luck Daily podcast this week.
Less than three months into 2026, Nick Luck has already taken his podcast to locations as far apart as Australia’s Gold Coast, America’s Gulfstream and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, from which Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and today’s episodes were anchored.
Monday’s episode, however, came from TW11, with Lee Mottershead, fresh from Frankie Dettori’s final farewell in Brazil, his main guest.
The pair discussed jumps action in Britain and Ireland, and Joseph O’Brien was among those on the phone, discussing runners in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Britain. In the last-mentioned country, he’ll be taking a number of horses to next month’s Cheltenham Festival.
You can read his thoughts on them via our sister product, The Racing App.
Luck and Lee also discussed Britain’s ‘Friday Night Live’ series, which began belatedly a week ago today, its scheduled debut having been called off after a dump of snow.
You can read what they had to say here.
Discussion of Friday Night Live came after owner Max McNeill gave his thoughts on the status of the Mares’ Hurdle, an ongoing debate in British National Hunt racing.
Having flown to the Middle East, Bob Baffert was the star guest on Tuesday, telling Luck about his two Saudi Cup runners, Nysos and Nevada Beach.
You can read his thoughts here.
Luck also spoke to David Mackinnon of the JCSA while, back in Europe, David ‘Newsboy’ Yates began an Irish road trip ahead of the Cheltenham Festival, sharing first the thoughts of Gordon Elliott, whom he met at his Cullentra base.
You can read them via our sister product here.
Jess Rummel of Yorkshire’s Norton Grove Stud, which has added two stallions to its ranks for the 2026 covering season, was this week’s Weatherbys bloodstock guest.
The Saudi Cup hasn’t been the only show in Riyadh this week, with the city also hosting the 41st Asian Racing Conference, during which Luck spoke to NYRA CEO David O’Rourke for Wednesday’s episode.
Back at the racecourse, he caught up with trainer Tom Clover, and analyst and Toshi Onikubo talked through Japan’s runners in Saudi Arabia.
Newsboy’s Irish journey continued with a visit to Closutton, where Willie Mullins span through several members of his Cheltenham Festival contingent.
You can read his thoughts via our sister product.
Kyoto Maekawa, who runs Sunrise Zipangu in the Saudi Cup, and is the first female trainer to be licensed by the JRA, spoke to Luck through an interpreter yesterday.
Luck also spoke to broadcaster Michelle Yu yesterday, who talked him through American representatives in Saudi Arabia.
Yu was back on the show today, paying tribute to internationally-renowned John Shirreffs, who has died aged 80.
With Cornelius Lysaght his main guest, there were contributions too from Alan King and Joe Tizzard, and Eddie Harty Jr paid tribute to his father, the Olympian and 1969 Grand National-winning jockey Eddie Harty Sr, who had died the previous day aged 88, a week after his wife Patricia.
Oli Bell, also on the ground in Saudi Arabia, joined Luck on today’s episode.
There was a chance to hear from Vicky Leonard in Australia, who told Luck and listeners about her impending court date with Peter V’landys, chief executive of Racing New South Wales.
The episode also featured the thoughts of Ed Walker and George Boughey, who runs Survie in the Neom Turf Cup.
Listen to every episode of Nick Luck Daily via our sister product
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