FMQ Stables' Saudi Crown set an honest pace and was able to hold off a furious charge from 2024 Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Mystik Dan to win the final stakes race of the 2024-25 Oaklawn Park season, the $200,000 Lake Ouachita Stakes for older runners.
Ridden by Abel Cedillo, the Brad Cox-trained Saudi Crown took advantage of his inside post to hug the rail throughout while setting reasonable fractions of :47.28 for the opening half-mile and 1:11.43 for the opening three-quarters of the1 1/16-mile test, with Mystik Dan in a stalking position throughout.
The 1 1/2-length advantage Saudi Crown held midway around the turn began to shrink entering the stretch as Mystik Dan, ridden for the first time by season-leading jockey Francisco Arrieta, began to apply pressure from the outside. The pair drew away from the rest of the field and challenged each other through the stretch run, with Saudi Crown prevailing by a nose, the same margin by which Mystik Dan won last year's Kentucky Derby.
The 1-2 favorite, Saudi Crown returned $3.00 to win and crowd favorite Mystik Dan paid $2.20 to show. It was another eight lengths back to third-place finisher Dimatic, and Emmanuel, Magic Tap, and Seize the Night completed the order of finish. Awesome Aaron and Frankie's Empire were scratched.
Winning for the seventh time in 15 career starts, the 5-year-old Saudi Crown added $117,000 to his bankroll to increase his earnings to $3,427,385. Mystik Dan might have re-established himself as a 4-year-old contender with his first in-the-money finish since last year's Preakness Stakes (G1).
