THE Japanese sprinter-miler Bathrat Leon made the most of his potent mix of speed and willpower to land the 1351 Turf Sprint and add another big prize in the Middle East to his resume.

Winner of the Godolphin Mile on dirt in Meydan last year, the five-year-old made all the running and just held on to win by a head from American raider Casa Creed, who had also finished second in this seven-furlong event last year.

The winner is trained by Yoshito Yahagi, who would later win the Saudi Cup with Panthalassa.

Bathrat Leon, a son of the Deep Impact stallion Kizuna, is likely to go for the Godolphin Mile again later this month.

Yahagi said: “Even as a trainer, I don’t have the right answer if he is a turf horse or a dirt horse. I thought he would suit the turf here and the distance. I think his best is seven furlongs, this is six-and-a-half furlongs. The jockey and I had the same opinion to go from the front, they get on very well. We won today, we have to have a discussion with the owner. He handles turf pretty well, but at the moment We can look at the Godolphin Mile.”

Later on, the Group 3 Saudi Derby produced a thrilling finish as the locally-trained Commissioner King wore down American raider Havnameltdown in the final strides.

Frankie Dettori was on board the Bob Baffert-trained runner-up and he looked certain to score for most of the contest but the Santa Anita Grade 2 winner just failed to see out the mile trip and was headed on the line by Commissioner King.

The winner is trained in Saudi by Sabah Alshammri and was ridden here by Luis Morales, who had earlier won a handicap on his only other ride of the day. Commissioner King is a lightly-raced son of the A.P. Indy horse Commissioner who was bought for just $9,000 as a newly-turned yearling at Keeneland in January 2021. He was resold at the JCSA Sale in Saudi Arabia and has been campaigned here.

Abdulaziz Alyousef, representing winning owners FMQ Stable, said: “He is the first horse that we bought for the owner Faisal Mohammed Alqahtani and he has won the Derby! It is beyond our wildest dreams! He has beaten Bob Baffert and the Japanese horses, people who come to win.”

Dettori said of the runner-up: “After speaking to Bob, I tried to nurse his speed – he has tonnes of speed. I tried to save as much as I could, we got into a duel, but unfortunately in the last 50 yards, it ran out. He was absolutely knackered.”