Dubai Racing
AmWest Entertainment to Distribute Dubai Racing
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Unrivaled international racing for an unprecedented $36,055,000 in purses during the Dubai International Racing Carnival and the Dubai World Cup will be simulcast from the dazzling new Meydan Racecourse across North and South America by Kentucky-based wagering company AmWest Entertainment.
Selected by the Dubai Racing Club for the distinction, AmWest Entertainment will distribute Dubai racing to the maximum number of qualified outlets so that fans on both continents and around the Caribbean can enjoy the world’s most elite international competition as never before.
“The Dubai World Cup, the Dubai International Racing Carnival and the grand opening of Meydan should be showcased in a brilliant form, and that’s our goal,” said AmWest Chief Executive Officer Nelson Clemmens. “This spectacular international racing stage will be a tremendous magnet for interest in the sport and will undoubtedly create excitement in racing around the world. We look forward to utilizing our capabilities and working hand-in-hand with racetracks, industry account wagering companies and off-track betting outlets to maximize the impact.”
"The Dubai Racing Club is very pleased to be working with AmWest Entertainment,” said Chief Executive Officer Frank Gabriel Jr. “AmWest has displayed an enormous amount of enthusiasm about the Dubai International Racing Carnival and racing in Dubai overall, and we believe harnessing that energy in partnership with our own will serve to highlight Dubai's racing product even more for fans in North and South America. This is a milestone season for us with the opening of Meydan and we believe AmWest is a great fit for this pinnacle year."
Grand opening of Meydan and the 2010 Dubai International Racing Carnival will take place on January 28, with first post slated for 6:44 p.m. in Dubai (9:44 a.m. EST in the United States). There will be six Carnival programs in February—on the 4, 5, 11, 18, 19, and 25—and two additional race days on March 4 and 5. The Dubai World Cup program, which will be the world’s richest day of racing with $26-million in purses for seven Thoroughbred events including a record $10-million for the World Cup, will be run on March 27 with the headline race at 2,000 meters over a Tapeta surface.
About 200 horses from 18 nations—in addition to top runners from Godolphin and other Dubai-based stables—are expected to race during the Carnival, which will be worth a total of $10,055,000, an average of more than $1.1-million per racing program. In comparison, average daily purse distribution at America’s most financially prestigious meet, conducted at Saratoga Race Course, was less than two-thirds of that amount in 2009.
Martin Talty, manager of the Dubai Racing Club’s international department, said that some of the world’s most accomplished racehorses are pointing for the Carnival and the Dubai World Cup program. They include 2008 and 2009 Japanese Horse of the Year Vodka, who has earned more money than any other filly or mare in history and more than any male runner except leader T.M.Opera O; multiple European Group 1 winner Youmzain, who was rated among the top runners on the globe last year after his runner-up effort to Sea The Stars in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe; Brazilian-bred Singapore International Cup winner and 2009 World Cup runner-up Gloria de Campeao; multiple Australian group stakes winner Lucky Secret; Hong Kong Group 1 winner Eagle Mountain, and Japan Cup Dirt winner Espoir City.
Dubai officials also will try to attract sensational undefeated American champion Zenyatta. “We would love to have her, as any racecourse in the world would,” Talty said. “Just like Cigar made the first running of the Dubai World Cup in 1996, we’d love to have Zenyatta for the opening of Meydan and for the World Cup when it is run for $10-million for the first time.”
Other American-raced horses that could compete in Dubai include 2009 champion older male and turf male Gio Ponti, who is pointed to the World Cup along with Pacific Classic Stakes winner Richard’s Kid and Team Valor International’s Grade 1 winner Gitano Hernando; Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Dancing in Silks, and Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner California Flag.
The Dubai World Cup program will include the $5-million, Group 1 Dubai Sheema Classic at 2,400 meters on turf; the $5-million, Group 1 Dubai Duty Free at 1,800 meters on turf; the $2-million, Group 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen at 1,200 meters on Tapeta; the $2-million, Group 2 UAE Derby at 1,900 meters on Tapeta; the $1-million, Group 2 Godolphin Mile on Tapeta, and the $1-million, Group 3 Al Quoz Sprint at 1,200 meters on turf.
Highlights of the Dubai International Racing Carnival
January 28—Seven-race program featuring the $200,000, Group 3 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 1 at 1,600 meters on Tapeta;
February 4—Eight-race program featuring the $200,000, Group 3 Al Rashidiya at 1,800 meters on turf;
February 5—Eight-race program featuring the $200,000, Group 3 Cape Verdi for fillies and mares at 1,600 meters on turf;
February 11—Eight-race program featuring the $250,000 UAE 1000 Guineas at 1,600 meters on Tapeta, and the $200,000, Group 3 Al Shindagha Sprint at 1,200 meters on Tapeta;
February 18—Seven-race program featuring the $250,000, Group 3 UAE 2000 Guineas at 1,600 meters on Tapeta and the $200,000, Group 3 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 at 1,900 meters on Tapeta;
February 19—Seven-race program featuring the $250,000, Group 2 Al Fahidi Fort at 1,600 meters on turf;
February 25—Eight-race program featuring the $250,000 UAE Oaks for three-year-old fillies at 1,900 meters on Tapeta and the $200,000, Group 3 Balanchine for fillies and mares at 1,800 meters on turf;
March 4—Super Thursday, a six-race program of all stakes, the $300,000, Group 2 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 at 2,000 meters on Tapeta; the $250,000, Group 2 Jebel Hatta at 1,800 meters on turf; the $250,000, Group 2 Dubai City of Gold at 2,400 meters on turf; the $250,000 Al Bastakiya (middle jewel of the UAE Triple Crown) at 1,900 meters on Tapeta, the $200,000, Group 3 Mahab al Shimaal at 1,200 meters on Tapeta, and the $200,000, Group 3 Burj Nahaar at 1,600 meters on Tapeta;
March 5—Seven-race program featuring the $250,000, Group 2 Zabeel Mile for three-year-olds and up on Tapeta and the Meydan Masters international jockeys competition.