The Dubai World Cup Carnival reaches its climax this weekend (30 March) at Meydan racecourse with the running of the Dubai World Cup itself.
The Dubai World Cup was initiated by the ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum in 1996, himself the owner of the Godolphin Racing stable and Darley Stud breeding operations. The race was run at Nad al Sheba until 2009 and was moved to its current home at Meydan in 2010.
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| Dubai World Cup, Meydan |
Fittingly, given that he inaugurated the race, Sheikh Mohammed has won the race five times with his Godolphin operation and once under his own name with Singspiel in 1997, trained by Sir Michael Stoute in the UK.
Godolphin’s most recent victory was last year’s running of the race when Monterosso was victorious and he lines up again to defend his title in this year’s renewal.
The Dubai World Cup is billed as the world’s richest horse race and in 2013 the total prize purse is US$ 10 million. With US$ 6 million going to the winner and the race taking about 2 minutes to run, it works out at US$ 50,000 earned per second by the winner. A nice return.
There is no entry fee for the race but participation is by invitation only. The whole Dubai World Cup Carnival, which runs from January to March, is truly international and brings together horses from racing centres in both the northern and southern hemispheres: UK, USA, Japan, South Africa, Australia, UAE et al.
The Dubai World Cup race night is the culmination of the carnival and the eight races on the card have combined prize money of US$ 27 million. The US-trained Royal Delta is currently the favourite for the race in what is a very open betting heat.
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| Meydan Fireworks |
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