Meydan Racecourse will host a total of 17 meetings during the 2024-2025 season, including the Dubai Racing Carnival which runs from November 8th to March 14th 2025 and consists of 16 fixtures. Most of the fixtures are staged on a Friday night under the lights and draw sizeable crowds from both the local and ex-pat communities.
From humble beginnings on a dusty camel racing track in 1981 to spectacular evenings hosted at the iconic Meydan Racecourse, horseracing has progressed a long way in Dubai.
The progress and achievements of the Dubai Racing Club (DRC) are thanks to the vision of one man; His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, whose imagination and forethought established one of the world’s premier sporting venues and the concept of the globally respected Dubai Carnival.
The formation of the DRC led to racing being held under rules for the very first time in March 1992 at Nad Al Sheba, a move which saw the sport in the region enjoy a stratospheric rise, thrusting Dubai into the consciousness of racegoers worldwide.
The prestigious Dubai World Cup meeting was then firmly-established and became a major event on the annual international racing calendar, attracting the premier horses and horsemen and women from across the world to participate.
The Dubai World Cup meeting continues to hold its position as one of the most exceptional nights in global racing, bringing to a close a season of racing at Meydan Racecourse that hosts a wealth of elite races which form the innovative and unique Dubai Racing Carnival.
Here we take a look at some of the most asked questions about racing there…
Meydan stages four marquee meetings during its racing season, beginning with Festive Friday on December 20th, a fixture which boasts the Group 2 Al Rashidiya (1800m) and the Group 2 Al Maktoum Mile (1600m) as its feature contests.
The second of the lucrative racedays is held in the new year where the iconic track plays host to Fashion Friday on January 24th, a meeting which stages the Group 1 Jebel Hatta (1800m) on turf and the Group 1 Al Maktoum Challenge (1900m) on dirt. The trio of Group 1s contests on the card is completed by Round 2 of the Al Maktoum Challenge (1900m, dirt) for Purebred Arabians.
Super Saturday on March 1st is one of the feature days of the Flat racing calendar outside of the UK. Combining equine excellence on the track with fabulous fashion off it, this well-attended fixture offers race fans and horsemen and women the perfect springboard into the main event of the Dubai racing season; the unparalled Dubai World Cup meeting.
Held a week later this year on April 6th, the $30.5m Dubai World Cup fixture truly is a spellbinding occasion. Six Group 1 events are complimented by three other Group races to form a card envied around the world.
Incredibly, last year’s meeting produced victories for eight different international jurisdictions plus a record-breaking winning margin by the exhilarating Laurel River and, just when you thought the action couldn’t be topped on the track, three Guinness World Records were broken courtesy of a spectacular drone and fireworks show after racing. It is a night like no other and one not to be missed.
Racing in Dubai is a fabulous experience with the iconic Meydan Racecourse offering packages and admission to suit all racegoers. The well positioned Premium area and Parade Ring Restaurant offers racing fans the opportunity to soak up the atmosphere and get close to the action from these alfresco areas, while the high-class tailored hospitality packages offer a terrific combination of superb dining and stunning views of the track to ensure a trip to Meydan is a memorable experience.
There are two surfaces at Meydan; dirt and turf. The current dirt surface was introduced to replicate those used in America to encourage US runners to Dubai, while the turf track is given time to grow and flourish so is introduced to the Carnival for the first time on Fashion Friday (December 20th).
There are approximately 1,800 horses in training in the UAE, 600 thoroughbreds and 1,200 purebred arabians.
Racing in the Middle East has understandably become very popular with UK trainers who again enjoyed plenty of success at last year’s Carnival. There are a number of handlers who have been supporters of the Dubai Carnival for a number of years with the likes of Jamie Osborne, Ian Williams and David O’Meara all regular visitors.
This year Lucie Botti, who enjoyed great success with Royal Dubai at last year’s Carnival, has nine horses based at Meydan, while the likes of George Scott (four horses ), Osborne (eight), Alice Haynes (three), O’Meara (two), Karl Burke (two) and Dylan Cunha (two) are other UK-based trainers likely to be represented at Meydan through the winter.