Report: Connections are stranded in Dubai after attacks
Saturday's card at Meydan in Dubai, featuring a winning 8-year-old debut by Rebel's Romance in the Group 2 Dubai City of Gold, happened amid missile and drone strikes that Iran launched in response to attacks from Israel and the U.S. on Saturday. No long-term plans for whether racing will continue or halt in the emirate have been announced, though connections of horses who flew in for Saturday's card have been stranded in Dubai until airspace reopens.
Jockeys and trainers who came for Saturday's card at Dubai remain sheltered in place, many inside the hotel adjacent to the Meydan racetrack, according to a report from Scott Burton of Racing Post. They include trainers James Owen and Jamie Osborne as well as jockey Kieran Shoemark, who rode in Dubai through an extended portion of the winter but was planning to go back to the United Kingdom after Saturday's card at Meydan.
The closure of airspace around Dubai has been described as "temporary" and "partial" by the emirate's airport authority. A Dubai airports spokesperson announced in a statement Saturday that a concourse at Dubai International Airport sustained minor damage in an incident, in which four staff members were injured.
An airport spokesperson released another statement Monday confirming that the airport planned to allow limited flights from Dubai International and Al Maktoum International airports, though passengers were advised not to go to the airport unless their airlines had confirmed a departure time for their flights.
Though the Saturday card was run as planned – with Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed in attendance, according to photographs published by Racing Post – the Emirates Racing Authority postponed the Sunday card at Jebel Ali, another racecourse in the United Arab Emirates. That meeting currently is scheduled to happen March 15.
Other racing for this week is still scheduled, and the Emirates Racing Authority has not announced any cancellations or postponements. Those scheduled fixtures include a pair of trials at Meydan on Wednesday as well as full race cards at Al Ain on Thursday, Meydan on Friday, Abu Dhabi on Saturday and Jebel Ali on Sunday.
As of Monday morning, the King's Cup (G3) meeting on Thursday and Friday at the Bahrain Turf Club also was expected to happen, according to a report by David Milnes of Racing Post. Entries have been drawn for the races, including the King's Cup, which drew an international field that includes 2025 Neom Turf Cup (G2) runner-up Calif, multiple Group 3 winner West Wind Blows for Simon and Ed Crisford, and up-and-coming Charlie Appleby trainee Royal Power.