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The last of the five UAE racecourses to host a fixture this season, Al Ain stages the first of its 12 2019-20 meetings on Thursday with a seven-race card, including just one Thoroughbred contest, a wide-open 1000m handicap slated as the day’s second race and a post time of 5:30 p.m.

The maximum allowed field of 15 declared is led by Rich and Famous, who will be saddled by Salem bin Ghadayer for HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum. Jockey Royston Ffrench will be in the saddle after having been injured at Abu Dhabi last Friday and subsequently missing Saturday’s meeting at Sharjah.

Sharjah Longines Racecourse staged its second meeting of the new UAE season on Saturday afternoon, a six-race card highlighted by the fixture’s sole Thoroughbred race, a 1700m handicap, the HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Cup. The AED 200,000 race was won by Philosopher, a spare ride for champion jockey Tadhg O’Shea, replacing Royston Ffrench who was injured at Abu Dhabi on Friday.

Sharjah Longines Racecourse’s second meeting of the new campaign is undoubtedly highlighted by the only Thoroughbred fixture on the six-race card, the first renewal of the AED 200,000 HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Cup presented by Longines. Moqarrar heads the weights in the 1700m handicap for which eight have been declared.

The Thoroughbreds take centre stage at the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club on Friday when their sole race, a 1600m rated conditions stakes and final of six races, has attracted the maximum allowed field of 14. Leading the charge is Shamaal Nibras, winner of the equivalent race, considered by many a prep for the Sheikh Zultan bin Sayed Al Nahyan National Day Cup over the same course and distance, in both 2016 and 2017.

Nominations for the 2020 Dubai World Cup Carnival close on November 11 for its $12.74 million programme. The international showcase opens on January 2 and runs for ten weeks, including nine consecutive Thursdays through February 27. The final night will be Super Saturday, March 7, 2020, a seven-race, $2.7 million dress rehearsal meeting for the world’s richest race day, the $35 million Dubai World Cup meeting on March 28, 2020.

Sharjah Longines Racecourse staged its first meeting of the new season on Saturday afternoon when the best of the Purebred Arabian races, a 1200m handicap for horses bred locally, was dominated by the two horses saddled by Champion Trainer Ernst Oertel for Champion Owner Khalid Khalifa Al Nabooda.

Sharjah Equestrian and Racing Club with its new title of Sharjah Longines Racecourse, stages its first meeting of the season on Saturday afternoon. The fourth fixture of the new 2019/20 UAE campaign, it features just one Thoroughbred contest, a 1000m handicap, among the six races and in which the weights are headed by Bedaveeya, winner of the equivalent race last year.