Dubai: The nine-week Dubai World Cup Carnival will reach its crescendo on Saturday, March 4, under the brilliant lights of the Meydan Racecourse, with the Super Saturday event that brings together some of the world’s best horses, jockeys and owners. The event’s nine-race card includes three Group 1s, the highest level of racing.
Millions of horse racing enthusiasts all over the world will be tuning in to the broadcast of Super Saturday, which serves as the official dress rehearsal for the $30.5 million prizemoney Dubai World Cup, one of the globe’s biggest horse races, to be held on 25 March.
Saturday’s event is a fitting culmination of the Dubai World Cup Carnival, one in a series of annual events that have reinforced the emirate’s reputation for setting the gold standard for flat racing. The Carnival’s 21 Group races for thoroughbreds, as well as 23 handicaps, across dirt and turf tracks, have attracted over 60,000 spectators.
The Super Saturday races will serve as trial races for the Dubai World Cup meeting, including the G1 Maktoum Challenge R3 for Thoroughbreds, run over 2,000 metres on dirt, and the one for Purebred Arabians that serves as a prep for the Kahayla Classic. The Group 1 Jebel Hatta race, held over 1,800 metres on turf, is a prep race for the Dubai World Cup’s Group 1 Dubai Turf. Super Saturday also features the Group 2 Dubai City of Gold and three Group 3s, the Burj Nahaar, Nad Al Sheba Turf Sprint and Mahab Al Shimaal, in addition to the second running of the Ras Al Khor Stakes.
Super Saturday also encompasses the sixth edition of the prestigious His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Horseracing Excellence Awards that will honour top performances across seven categories.
