Super Saturday

As part of his official duties, Keeneland's Director of Sales Operations Dean Roethemeier was attending the races Saturday at Meydan in Dubai at the same time that drone and missile attacks launched by Iran were hitting nearby. While he said he never felt unsafe, he noted that his biggest worry was, with the Dubai International Airport having been shuttered, how he was going to make it back home? But after a long, complicated journey, he had made it to Amsterdam on Tuesday and was expecting to land at the Cincinnati...

Turbulente was a prophetic winner at Chantilly on Friday considering the events that would transpire less than 24 hours later across the Middle East. The Wertheimer-bred daughter of Australia from the family of a horse whose greatest exploits came in Australia - Americain (Dynaformer) - looks one to follow as the French Classic trials come around.  Super Saturday went ahead in Dubai amid early rounds of missile strikes and interceptions across the region as American and Israeli troops struck Iran and the inevitable retaliation ensued. Sheikh Mohammed demonstrated his own...

Members of the racing community in Dubai for Super Saturday now face an anxious wait for the airport to reopen in the wake of the American and Israeli attacks on Iran which resulted in the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Racing went ahead at Meydan on a day when the Fairmont hotel on Dubai's Palm Jumeirah caught fire after being hit during an Iranian air attack. Overnight on Saturday, the Dubai International Airport (DXB), which serves some 250,000 passengers daily, also sustained damage which resulted in injuries to four passengers,...

Meydan's Super Saturday card went ahead despite military action in the Middle East which saw a fire break out at Dubai's luxury Fairmont The Palm Hotel. US and Israeli forces attacked Iran on Saturday morning in what the two countries described as a "pre-emptive" strike against a Tehran government intent on developing nuclear weapons. The attack prompted retaliation from Iran, with missiles reported to have targeted Israel and countries across the Middle East. Veteran racing broadcaster Derek Thompson was at Meydan on Saturday and said "bangs and flashes" were visible....

It's a tough old life. As we speak, David Redvers has just returned from a weekend in St Moritz for the White Turf meeting, one of the true spectacles of the horseracing world. Between racing on ice and dancing on tables, the Tweenhills maestro has been enjoying a rather good week for graduates from his farm on rather more conventional surfaces, from the turf at Caulfield to the Chantilly all-weather and dirt of Meydan. "We had the most incredible week last week in that we had Buckaroo, who came second...

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...