Dubai: Gulf News, widely acknowledged as a pioneering supporter of horse racing in the UAE, returned to Meydan Racecourse for the first time this season to sponsor a high-quality six-race card featuring several significant races on Saturday.
With the 2014 Dubai World Cup Carnival in full swing, trainers were hoping to use Saturday’s races to identify potential prospects for the event’s upcoming Pattern races.
While the highlights of the meeting were the two turf contests, over six and eight furlongs, the opening Hayat 15.6 handicap over 1900m provided the evening with the perfect launch-pad when it served up an exciting finish.
Exploratory, having only the third start of his career, hung on grimly under Dutch jockey Adrie de Vries to deny young Noel Garbutt aboard Fa’iz by half a length.
A son of Derby-winning stallion New Approach, Exploratory supplied Emirati handler Ahmed Bin Harmash, who is based at the Al Asafa Stables in Dubai, with his sixth win of the season.
The trainer was hopeful that the Darley homebred would improve for the run now that he had shown himself to be a real battler.
Meanwhile, Duleep George, Executive Director Strategy & Marketing, Al Nisr Group, the publisher of Gulf News drew attention to the newspaper’s role as a supporter of sports in the UAE.
“We are delighted to be back at Meydan, sponsoring the card on the first Saturday of the season. This card will be a great lead-up to the Dubai World Cup Carnival card next weekend,” he said.
“We take great pride in our relationship with Meydan and we are looking forward to a wonderful racing season, culminating in the prestigious Dubai World Cup.”
Malih Al Basti, Chairman of Meydan Racing Committee, praised Gulf News for their commitment to providing support to racing in the UAE.
“It is always a pleasure to host our long-term partners at Meydan Racecourse, and Gulf News has been an important part of the development of racing in Dubai for many years,” he said.
“As well as the newspaper’s support of the Racing at Meydan season, Gulf News is also a strong supporter of the Dubai World Cup Carnival and has a major presence on Dubai World Cup day thanks to the sponsorship of the highly-regarded Group 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen, part of the renowned Global Sprint Challenge.
“It is gratifying that a company like Gulf News, which has been integral to the UAE community for so many years, is prepared to support and develop horse racing in the country.”
Gulf News is the first newspaper in the region to promote the arts, culture, music and sport through sponsorship of events.
The $2 million Dubai Golden Shaheen is the company’s flagship sponsorship event and dates back to the very first running of the race in 1996.
