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Horse racing: 2023 Dubai World Cup to 
be held on March 25

The 20th edition of the Dubai World Cup Carnival gets underway on January 6

The 2022-2023 racing season at Meydan will start on November 4, the Dubai Racing Cub announced on Tuesday.

The Meydan season will culminate on March 25 when the iconic racecourse stages the 28th edition of the $30.5 million Dubai World Cup meeting.

The build up to the Dubai World Cup meeting will begin as early as November, when Meydan Racecourse begins its new season.

The 20th edition of the Dubai World Cup Carnival, which brings together horses, trainers and jockeys from all over the world, gets underway on January 6.

An enhanced Carnival programme, with more than $7.5 million prize money, will take place at Meydan Racecourse between January and March. The Carnival will culminate in ‘Super Saturday’ — the official dress rehearsal for the Dubai World Cup — on March 4.

The 2023 Carnival will feature several new races, including the $150,000 Thunder Snow Challenge, over 2000 metres on dirt. Another addition is the $150,000 Ipi Tombe Stakes, for fillies and mares on turf over 1,400 metres, which honours the Zimbabwe-bred mare who won the Dubai Duty Free tournament in 2003.

In total, there are 21 Group races for Thoroughbreds. Purebred Arabians have their share of the action, too, with a new race, the UAE Arabian Sprint Championship. The rest of the Arabian races have Group status, including three Group 1 legs of the Maktoum Challenge series.

The 2023 Carnival will provide ample opportunities for handicappers, with 20 handicaps, divided between dirt and turf.

Meanwhile, the Jumeirah Turf Series for three-year-olds returns for a second season. Last year’s Jumeirah Derby winner, Nations Pride, went on to run in the G1 Cazoo Derby at Epsom.

Sheikh Rashid bin Dalmook Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Racing Club, thanked Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Presidential Affairs, for the support he has extended to Dubai Racing Cub’s initiatives.

“We are delighted to announce an enhanced programme for the 2022-23 racing season in Meydan,” said Sheikh Rashid bin Dalmook. “We thank Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed and the ERA team for their support, which has enabled us to enrich the fixture list and create a dynamic new programme that offers greater opportunities for international horses to compete here during the Carnival.

“We are also grateful for the support of our local horsemen and women, as well as our loyal racegoers, and look forward to welcoming them back to our iconic Meydan Racecourse for the first of our ‘Racing In Dubai’ meetings on 4th November.”

“Dubai continues to introduce initiatives to boost the sector and revitalise the global community of horse owners, trainers and other equestrian professionals,” he added.