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  • 30 December 2016
    Four Timer Watson and Treble Winning Appleby Paint Meydan Red and Blue

    Dubai World Cup Carnival launches Thursday January 5, 2017

    Red Stables trainer, Doug Watson looks set to mount a strong local charge on the 2017 Dubai World Cup Carnival next week having seen out 2016 with four victories at Meydan Racecourse on Thursday evening.

    His charges provided a winning treble for stable jockey, Pat Dobbs and a closing victory for the 2016 Godolphin Mile winning jockey, Sam Hitchott.

  • 28 December 2016
    Watson holds another strong hand on cracking Meydan card

    Final race night of 2016 features eight contests

    • Tickets available from Meydan Ticket Sales Office.
    • First race 6:30pm

    The final UAE meeting of 2016 will be staged at Meydan Racecourse on Thursday night with a bumper eight race card.

    This meeting is highlighted by the EGA Excellence Trophy, a 1400m handicap with a prize fund of AED190,000.

    Champion Trainer Doug Watson saddled an amazing five winners at the last Meydan Racecourse meeting and has plenty of good chances this week.

  • 24 December 2016
    FaIz continues good form of Charpy team with Sharjah feature victory

    The HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Cup, a 1700m handicap and only Thoroughbred race on the card, was the highlight of Sharjah Equestrian and Racing Club’s final meeting of 2016 on Saturday afternoon.

    It was won by Fa’Iz, trained by Frenchman Erwan Charpy and was produced with a steady challenge throughout the final stages to lead close home under the trainer’s compatriot Gerald Avranche.

    For Fa’Iz, it was a second career victory both registered for Charpy on his 49th outing and 41st since switching to the UAE.

  • 23 December 2016
    Jebel Ali proves a Good Trip for Al Raihe and Selvaratnam reaches a major landmark

    The Jebel Ali Mile Prep, as the name would suggest over 1600m, was the highlight at Jebel Ali on Friday afternoon and the Ali Rashid Al Raihe-trained Good Trip opened his UAE account in style under Emirati apprentice Saeed Al Mazrooei.

    A winner twice in England, Good Trip on his fourth UAE start all this season stayed on strongly in the final 200m to win impressively. Over this stamina sapping 1600m and behind the strong gallop which was evident here, it really seemed to suit him.

  • 23 December 2016
    Connections targeting valuable Sharjah pot

    With a prize fund of AED100,000, the HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Cup is the standout contest at Saturday’s penultimate meeting of the Sharjah Equestrian and Racing Club’s season.

    In addition, the 1700m handicap is also the only Thoroughbred race on the card.

    Not surprisingly, the race was oversubscribed and the maximum field of 16 should be guaranteed with four reserves available to replace any non-runners.

    Ali Rashid Al Rayhi looks to hold a very strong hand with three runners all of whom have solid claims, including Lake Hawk the mount of stable jockey Tadhg O’Shea.

  • 22 December 2016
    Forjatt faces stiff task as he seeks further Jebel Ali success

    Jebel Ali Racecourse’s final meeting of 2016 is on Friday afternoon and highlighted by the Jebel Ali Mile Prep.

    This is a 1600m conditions race designed as a stepping stone towards the track’s biggest race of the season, the Group 3 Jebel Ali Mile, on January 20th 2017.

    Both races are over 1600m and Forjatt has won each of them, landing the big race itself in 2014 and this prep last season, when it was actually contested this year, in early January.

  • 19 December 2016
    Abu Dhabi Championship Goes To Omans Champion

    Oman based trainer Said Al Badi made his first foray to the UAE a winning one with the ultra impressive victory of Maisoor in the 1600m Listed Abu Dhabi Championship, the feature at Sunday’s meeting in the capital.

    Unbeaten after five starts in Muscat, all on dirt, his jockey, Anas Al Siyabi probably never had a moment of worry with the pair, seemingly without effort, stalking the early pace before hitting the front on the home turn.

    In a matter of strides they were clear to maintain that unbeaten record and, probably just as importantly, prove Maisoor’s effectiveness on turf.

  • 18 December 2016
    Heavy Hitters Eye Dubai Riches as 2017 Dubai World Cup Carnival Acceptances are Released

    Meydan Group has released the list of horses accepted for the 2017 Dubai World Cup Carnival which gets underway at Meydan Racecourse on Saturday January 5, 2017.

    The list features 217 accepted horses from 18 countries with 19 Group 1 winners, 10 Group 2 winners and 25 Group 3 winners among them.

    A number of exciting horses are set to make the trip to Dubai’s winter sunshine this January where they will compete for a share of the $10,925,000 prize money across 61 Thoroughbred and four Group Purebred Arabian races held outside Dubai World Cup day.

  • 17 December 2016
    Winning run continues for Watson

    UAE Champion Trainer, Doug Watson, is clearly intent on retaining his crown and followed up his five winners at Meydan on Thursday by landing the featured 1700m handicap at Sharjah on Saturday afternoon, courtesy of Hakim.

    Stable jockey for Watson at Red Stables, Pat Dobbs, who was aboard three of the yard’s winners on Thursday, was soon in front on Hakim and able to secure what appeared a relatively easy lead.

  • 17 December 2016
    Championship and Classics on the Line at Abu Dhabi

    Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club’s meeting on Sunday evening throws up the possibility of unearthing future stars of the Purebred Arabian ranks as the fillies and colts Prestige Classics and the Listed Abu Dhabi Championship get underway.

    Won in 2000 (then known as the Group 3 Al Asayl Championship) by multiple Group 1 winner, Nez D’Or, the subsequent winner of the 2002 Dubai Kahayla Classic, the 1600m Abu Dhabi Championship has attracted a field of 12.

  • 16 December 2016
    Strong hand for Al Asayl in Sharjah Feature

    Sharjah Equestrian and Racing Club’s meeting on Saturday afternoon is highlighted by a 1700m handicap for which 14 have been declared.

    Al Asayl Stables offers two promising competitors in Cloe De Faust and RB Burning Ash, both trained by Eric Lemartinel for HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

    Stable jockey, Tadhg O’Shea, elects to ride RB Burning Ash who has just one career victory to his name but has been running consistently and has finished third on both starts this season.

    The champion jockey is confident Al Asayl’s residents won’t disappoint.

  • 15 December 2016
    Fantastic Five for In-Form Red Stables as Trainer Watson Cleans Up at Meydan

    UAE Champion trainer Doug Watson enjoyed a night to remember at Meydan Racecourse on Thursday landing five out of seven races including one of the three AED250,000 Listed highlights.

    In addition to five winners the Red Stables handler also saddled the runner up and third place getter in the two races he did not win.

    Held over 2000m, The Entisar Sponsored By Al Tayer Motors, was the first of the Listed races and was turned into a procession by the Watson-trained Storm Belt.

  • 14 December 2016
    Three Listed Contests Attract Quality Fields on Meydans Thursday Card

    Group Winners Take to the Track Ahead of January 5 Carnival Launch

    • Tickets available from Meydan Ticket Sales Office.
    • First race 6:30pm

    Muarrab, the $2m Dubai Golden Shaheen Champion, gets his title-defense season underway at Meydan Racecourse on Thursday evening with an appearance in the Listed Garhoud Sprint sponsored by Lincoln Continental.

    That 1200m Golden Shaheen victory on Dubai World Cup night 2016 was the highlight of Muarrab’s impressive 13 career victories, 11 of which have been registered in the UAE since joining Musabbeh Al Mheiri at Oasis Stables.

  • 11 December 2016
    Abu Dhabi Proves Happy Hunting Ground for Al Asayl Stables

    The Al Asayl Stables team enjoyed a highly successful evening at Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club on Sunday, combining to claim three of the first four winners on the card.

    Pride of place went to Mahbooba, who, like all the Al Asayl winners is owned by HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, trained by Eric Lemartinel and ridden by Tadhg O’Shea.

    Conceding weight to all of her nine rivals, Mahbooba was the comfortable winner of a 1600m conditions contest that was restricted to fillies and mares. She was chased home by Gerald Avranche aboard her stable companion, Deyaar.

  • 10 December 2016
    Sniper Hits National Day Target at Al Ain

    Jockey Royston Ffrench earned his riding fee aboard Sniper De Monlau on Saturday evening, when the Helal Al Alawi-trained Purebred Arabian was victorious in the inaugural running of Al Ain’s National Day Cup.

    A conditions contest over 1800m, Ffrench’s mount was slowly away and soon trailing his seven rivals prompting his jockey to get busy in the saddle almost immediately.

    Making his dirt debut on just his sixth career outing, Sniper De Monlau did not appear happy until he was switched wide by Ffrench at the halfway mark.