Super Saturday

If last week's Saudi Cup card in Riyadh was dominated by Japanese-trained runners, then Super Saturday at Meydan was the day that Charlie Appleby and Godolphin served notice to the world that this is a team which will take some stopping in the weeks and months to come. At a meeting which is ostensibly made up of trials for Dubai World Cup night in five weeks' time, it was two winners with Classic pretensions back in Europe who arguably created the biggest impression, certainly so in the case of Ruling...

RULING COURT (c, 3, Justify--Inchargeofme {GB}, by High Chaparral {Ire}) looked a colt potentially out of the very top drawer as he ran out an emphatic winner of the Listed Jumeirah 2,000 Guineas at Meydan, completing a four-timer on Super Saturday for William Buick, Charlie Appleby and Godolphin. The 'TDN Rising Star', who topped last year's Arqana May Breeze-up Sale when bought for €2,300,000, had only two rivals behind him as Nedawy (Instagrand) took the field along him in the early stages, before making rapid headway to lead entering the...

Saturday's Listed Jumeirah 1000 Guineas saw the same one-two-three finishers as the Jan. 31 Mawj Stakes at Meydan, which kicked off Dubai's Super Saturday programme. Godolphin's MOUNTAIN BREEZE (IRE) (f, 3, Lope De Vega {Ire}--Lava Flow {Ire}, by Dalakhani {Ire}) settled in the box seat, before overwhelming game pacesetter Octans (Spa) (The Grey Gatsby {Ire}) inside the final quarter mile to win going away under William Buick. Lhakpa (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}) closed to take third. The final time for the 1600 metres over good turf was 1:38.06. The Godolphin homebred...

Meydan's nine-race Super Saturday card features eight Thoroughbred contests, with several of them offering automatic entry into the big day in April. The G2 Al Maktoum Classic is one such race, with last year's G1 Al Maktoum Challenge hero Kabirkhan (California Chrome) signed on. Trained by Doug Watson and the very image of his dual American Horse of the Year sire, the 5-year-old entire was only eighth to Laurel River (Into Mischief) in the G1 Dubai World Cup last March, and returned to action with a seventh-place finish defending his...

    Group 1-placed Poker Face (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Jpn}) died in a training accident in Dubai earlier this week, owner Edward Ware announced on X. The 6-year-old gelding had won the G2 Zabeel Mile at Meydan in January, and finished 4 1/2 lengths behind Saturday's $20-million G1 Saudi Cup second Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) in the G1 Jebel Hatta there on Jan 24. He was trained by the father-son training duo of Simon and Ed Crisford. "Terrible news yesterday that the magnificent, brave and talented Poker Face passed away...

by Alan Carasso, Heather Anderson & Adam Houghton With G1 Al Maktoum Challenge winner Kabirkhan (California Chrome) missing from the entries and instead training up to the G1 Dubai World Cup in four weeks, the 'Super Saturday' meeting at Meydan is deprived of one of its star attractions. But a challenging nine-race program awaits, with no fewer than five of the contests offering free passes into the corresponding race on Mar. 30. RRR Racing's Clapton (Brethren) should prove a handful in his second start since finishing down the field in...

Juddmonte's Laurel River (Into Mischief), last seen running out a 3 3/4-length winner of the GII Pat O'Brien S. in August 2022 for Bob Baffert, has been entered for the G3 Al Shindagha Sprint (1200m) and the G3 Firebreak S. (1600m) on 'Fashion Friday' at Meydan Racecourse Jan. 26. "Everything seems to be fine, we've gotten nothing but good reports from over there," said Garrett O'Rourke, general manager of Juddmonte USA, who confirmed that the 6-year-old stallion will take part in the shorter of the two races Friday evening. An...

The full 2023-2024 programme for the Dubai racing season at Meydan Racecourse has been released. Running from Nov. 10 until Mar. 8, the season includes 14 meetings and precedes the $30.5-million Dubai World Cup meeting on Mar. 30. In addition, the prize-money has been increased by 27%, with the minimum per race now AED165,000. The Festive Friday card will contain six stakes races, among them the G2 Al Maktoum Mile at Meydan on Dec. 22. There is also Fashion Friday on Jan. 26, with nine black-type races on tap led...

Purses will rise 27% during the 2023-2024 Dubai racing season at Meydan Racecourse, the Dubai Racing Club (DRC) announced earlier this week. The new minimum purse of AED165,000 will be for non-stakes races, while all Group 1 races will be increased to a purse of at least AED1 million. The prize-money of $30.5 million on Dubai World Cup night will remain unchanged. In addition, all Meydan cards will feature nine races except for the first two. Other changes revealed by the DRC include two new feature race nights: Festive Friday...

The Dubai Racing Club (DRC) on Sunday announced a new structure for the 2023-24 racing season at Meydan, renaming the entire event from December through March as the Dubai Racing Carnival and boosting purses by AED11 million, a 27% increase over last season. The season will offer three feature race nights starting in December (AED4.7 million), then January (AED10 million), and Super Saturday in March (AED 10million), which brings the total purses for the three meetings to AED24.7 million. The minimum purse for non-stakes races is AED165,000, which is back...

RRR Racing's Sound Money (Flatter--Vegas Trip, by Aldebaran) was making his Meydan debut for these connections and didn't disappoint, running out a 2 3/4-length victor of the $250,000 G3 Mahab Al Shimaal Sponsored By Emirates SkyCargo at Meydan Racecourse on Saturday. The 1200-metre dirt race was the ninth and final on the Super Saturday card, a warm up for Dubai World Cup night in three weeks' time. One of three in the race for Bhupat Seemar besides G3 Al Shindagha Sprint victor Tuz (Oxbow) and Western Symphony (Ire) (Shamardal), the...

Go Soldier Go (Tapiture) stayed best to land a pulsating edition of the $170,000 Listed Al Bastakiya Sponsored By Arabian Adventures at Meydan for trainer Fawzi Nass and jockey Adrie de Vries. The complexion of the race changed dramatically inside the final furlong when long-time leader and G3 UAE Oaks runner-up Ami Please (Goldencents) began to wilt, leaving Mr Raj (Bolt d'Oro) and Go Soldier Go to surge down the outside late on. In fighting off Mr Raj to win by a head, Go Soldier Go staked his claims for...