Silver Jubilee Classic brings curtains down on season at Jebel Ali

Just a Penny is fancied to win the 1,950m third race for thoroughbred horses with jockey Patrick Dobbs at the helm at Jebel Ali Racecourse.

The showpiece - the Dubai World Cup - is still a fortnight away and the end of the season is still two weeks to go after that but the curtains to the season at the Jebel Ali Racecourse will come down this weekend with the hosting of the final meeting.
This Friday will see the 12th and last race meeting of the 2018-19 installment at the historic racetrack and it promises to be another afternoon filled with some top quality racing as well as a fun day out for the racegoers.
The Jebel Ali Racecourse has come to be known as the 'Family Racecourse' with the thousands coming through the turnstiles to witness the action right through the season and Emirates Racing Authority (ERA) official Yasir Mabrouk reflected on a very successful season for the venue.
"On behalf of the Emirates Racing Authority (ERA), we would like to thank Jebel Ali Racecourse for their very, very successful season," Mabrouk told reporters on Tuesday.
"They have provided us with all the requirements, technical needs. Jebel Ali is one of the most popular race courses. It is a family racecourse, what we call it - the 'Yellow Racecourse.' We had a very successful season here. We have seen some good horses winning some of the top races," he said.
Looking back, he said that there were some top quality contests that dotted the calendar at Jebel Ali. "Some of the highlights were the Jebel Ali Stakes and Sprint, that is the richest day of the season. And we had the Jebel Ali Mile, the highest status race of their calendar and we saw some really good horses competing in that. And now, we will see the third biggest meeting of the season with the (Jebel Ali Classic) Silver Jubilee meeting and that will feature some of the good horses and we have the fillies race (Derrinstown Stud), which is a good race, where the focus is on good quality horses not quantity," said Mabrouk.
Mabrouk also said that the ERA would look to build on this for next season and added that the 2019-20 calendar will be announced soon.
"All in all, it is a very successful season and we will look to build on that next season. The fixtures for the new season will be announced in the coming few weeks and we wish everybody a good summer," he added.
Meanwhile, Shareef Al Halawani, Jebel Ali Racecourse manager promised another fun-filled afternoon for race fans. "We are known as the Family Racecourse and we will again see thousands of fans coming in to soak in the atmosphere and the racing," said Al Halawani.
A whopping 85 horses will be in action across the seven-race card with the feature race being the Jebel Ali Classic (Silver Jubilee) over seven furlongs.
james@khaleejtimes.com