Super Saturday

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...

Discovery Island (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) bounced back to his best on Super Saturday at Meydan by finishing with a flourish under James Doyle to take the $250,000 G3 Burj Nahaar Sponsored By Emirates Skywards. In doing so, Discovery Island ensured his place in the G2 Godolphin Mile on World Cup night for trainer Bhupat Seemar, who ran four horses in Saturday's race. But it was Discovery Island who did best for the stable. On The Warpath (GB) (Declaration Of War) got to the lead early but couldn't sustain it and...

by Alan Carasso, Emma Berry, Brian Sheerin & Heather Anderson Runner-up to Cartier Horse of the Year Baaeed (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) in last year's G1 Lockinge S. and G1 Queen Anne S., Real World (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) makes his first trip to the races in nearly nine months verus 14 rivals--including four others from Godolphin--in Saturday's G1 Jebel Hatta S. at Meydan Racecourse. The race, part of Super Saturday which is a World Pool event, is the final lead-up test prior to the G1 Dubai Turf in...

In his previous 14 starts, the 5-year-old Eastern World (Ire) (Dubawi (Ire)), best known as the little brother of dual Dubai World Cup winner Thunder Snow (Ire) (Helmet (Aus)), had never raced under seven furlongs and had done his best work over a mile. In the Super Saturday finale, the Ahmad bin Harmish-trained gelding rewarded his astute trainer and promising jockey Ray Dawson when taking the six-furlong G3 Mahab Al Shimaal. Showing plenty of tactical speed, Eastern World and Dawson tracked the French-trained pacesetter Manjeer (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}). When angled out for...

Godolphin homebred Desert Wisdom (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) was plucked out of the Racing In Dubai Horses-In-Training Sale in September by Hassan Saleh Al Hammadi for AED70,000, having been gelded after being beaten double-digit margins in a pair of starts for trainer Charlie Appleby in Britain earlier in the season, and the 4-year-old continued his class ascent on Saturday with a win in the G3 Burj Nahaar, the local stepping stone to the G2 Godolphin Mile in three weeks' time. The chestnut won his local debut at Jebel Ali on Dec....

Glitters To Shine On Super Saturday Lord Glitters (Fr) (Whipper) may be a former G1 Queen Anne S. winner, but at age nine he has revamped himself as a Middle Eastern star, and he lines up as one of the highlight horses of Super Saturday in the G1 Jebel Hatta S. It has been almost three years since the grey visited a winner's enclosure in Europe, but in the meantime Lord Glitters has won four black-type races in the Gulf region, including last year's edition of this race, the G3...