The administrators of the $20 million Saudi Cup, the richest race in the world, will recommend the disqualification of Maximum Security from the colt’s 2020 win in the race on charges that his trainer, Jason Servis, committed “substantial breaches of the rules” for the race related to his arrest and conviction on drug misbranding charges in the United States. The Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia, which runs the race, said that it had issued the recommendations to the Stewards’ Committee after the “conclusion of an investigation” into the distribution of the purse. Servis was arrested in early March 2020 in the U.S., less than two weeks after the 2020 Saudi Cup, along with dozens of other individuals connected to Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing. The Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia immediately suspended the distribution of the purse. The Jockey Club has conducted its investigation without releasing any of its details or methods. The Jockey Club has not said that any horses tested positive for illegal drugs after the 2020 Saudi Cup, the inaugural running of the race. Out-of-competition and post-race samples were sent to testing labs in France and Hong Kong. In a statement released on Tuesday describing the recommendations, the Jockey Club said that “has made its final deliberation in respect of the charges brought” and that it “will issue no further statement in relation to this matter.” The statement said that a hearing into the charges would take place “in due course.” Servis pleaded guilty to two charges of drug misbranding and adulteration in December, 2022. He was sentenced to four years in prison on the two charges in the summer of 2023. In indictments, prosecutors said that Servis was caught on wiretaps admitting to administering illegal substances to nearly all of his horses, and they specifically alleged that Maximum Security was administered a dubious substance marketed as SGF-1000 in the months leading up to the Saudi Cup, though no specific date was identified. In the summer of 2020, Prince Bandar bin Khalid Al Faisal, the chairman of the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia, said in a television interview that the organization would consider any administration of an illegal drug within six months of the Saudi Cup to be grounds for a violation. A horsemen’s guide distributed to trainers and owners who enter horses to race in Saudi Arabia includes language that says the stewards can issue penalties to any persons who “administer or cause to be administered any prohibited substance to a horse for the purpose of affecting its performance in a race, or any test.” Gary West, the co-owner of Maximum Security with his wife, Mary, said in a statement released to the press in December 2022, that he supported a decision by the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia to disqualify his horse. West released the statement just after Servis entered his guilty plea.   If Maximum Security is disqualified, Midnight Bisou, a mare trained by Steve Asmussen, would be elevated to first. The third-place finisher, Benbatl, would be elevated to second, and Mucho Gusto, trained by Bob Baffert, would be elevated to third. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.