Meydan have announced the 2014 Dubai World Cup Carnival race programme, worth over $37million (Dh136m) in prize money.
The Carnival, which gets underway on Thursday, January 9, 2014, features 11 race meetings at Meydan, including the Super Saturday on March 8 and the season-ending $27.25m (Dh100m) Dubai World Cup on Saturday, March 29.
The new season sees a number of changes to the programme, designed to offer connections more options when planning their campaigns.
The $1m Dubai Gold Cup has been upgraded from a Group 3 to a Group 2 and the $175,000 (Dh642,810) Meydan Sprint has now moved up from a Listed race to a Group 3.
Three Conditions races have been upgraded to Listed status and will serve as prep races for big-money Dubai World Cup Carnival contests.
The prize money for the Singspiel Stakes has been increased to $150,000 (Dh550,980). It will prep horses for the Group 2 Al Rashidiya on Thursday, January 30.
The Dubai Stakes on Thursday, January 16, is now worth $150,000 and is the prep for the Group 3 Al Shindagha Sprint.
The Dubai Millennium now offers trainers a Listed race, worth $200,000 (Dh734,640) and will be run on Thursday, February 20. This allows horses to prep for a range of Dubai World Cup-day options, including the two $5m turf races in the Group 1 Dubai Duty Free or the Group 1 Dubai Sheema Classic or the big one, the $10m Group 1 Dubai World Cup.
The Al Fahidi Fort turf race has been brought down in trip from 1,600 to 1,400m and will be held on Thursday, January 23. The $125,000 (Dh459,150) Meydan Classic, to be held on Thursday, February 27, has also been brought down in trip.
Martin Talty, International Manager at Dubai Racing Club, said the changes had been made to further refine and develop the Carnival. “We wanted to develop our 1,400m programme and noted that there were not many races of the status of the Al Fahidi Fort over that distance around the world.”
Talty added that newly-upgraded Dubai Millennium would give trainers extra options when prepping for valuable Group 1 races on Dubai World Cup day. “This 2,000m race was named after the great Dubai Millennium and fits into our schedule on February 20, where it is four weeks out from Dubai World Cup night and horses can use it to prepare for any of the three final races on the Dubai World Cup-day card, the Dubai Duty Free, the Dubai Sheema Classic or the Dubai World Cup.”
* For breaking news, follow us on @Sport_360 or find us on Facebook.
