KARAKONTIE’s 2026 crop of juveniles continued to impress on Sunday when Riyadh Way took them all the way in a Gulfstream Park Maiden Special Weight.
Riyadh Way wasn’t the first out of the gate in the five-furlong turf dash, but he didn’t let that keep him from going to the front with the colt rushing up the rail from his inside spot. He wasn’t willing to sleep on the lead, setting a pressured pace with Heriberto Figueroa encouraging him for even more at the quarter pole.
Starting to draw away from there, he grew his lead in the stretch to cross the line 4 ¼ lengths the best.
Riyadh Way and Heriberto Figueroa reach the wire first in the second race at #GulfstreamPark. pic.twitter.com/UuO0Mx0jdb
— Gulfstream Park (@GulfstreamPark) August 23, 2026
Trained by Tareq Moubarak for Alwaleed Thamer Alosaimi International Stables, Riyadh Way was making his second start in this race.
The Raymond Montgomery-bred is the second winner from two to race out of a daughter of Grade 3 winner Auntie Joy. That mare is one of two stakes winners out of the winning Forestry mare Rejoicing. Three of Riyadh Way’s first four dams either won a stakes or produced at least one stakes winner.
This is the sixth juvenile winner of the year for KARAKONTIE, whose 50% juvenile winners to runners is second best of all North American stallions this year.