Horsemen
The eagerly awaited new season gets underway on Friday, 7 November while the first of three feature race days takes place on ‘Festive Friday’, 19 December when the AED 1 million G2 Maktoum Mile headlines a superb card. The Carnival’s second marquee race day is the popular ‘Fashion Friday’ fixture on 23 January, featuring a stellar all-Pattern race card including the AED3.68 million G1 Al Maktoum Challenge which offers ‘Bonus Scheme’ entry to the Dubai World Cup.
Dubai World Cup Bonus Scheme
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Dubai Racing Carnival
The eagerly awaited new season gets underway on Friday, 7 November, with the first of our three feature race days ‘Festive Friday’ scheduled for 19 December, when the AED1 million Gr. 2 Maktoum Mile headlines a superb card. The Carnival’s second marquee race day is the popular ‘Fashion Friday’ fixture on 23 January, featuring a stellar all-Pattern race card including the AED3.68 million Gr. 1 Al Maktoum Challenge. Emirates Super Saturday on 28 February offers an evening full of prep races for the Dubai World Cup.
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Dubai World Cup
The 30th running of the annual Dubai World Cup will take place on Saturday, 28 March 2026 at the iconic Meydan Racecourse. The Dubai World Cup is the highlight of Dubai’s sporting and social calendar and attracts the best horses and riders from all over the world. It is the world’s most spectacular race day with a total prize money of US$30.5 million for the showcase of nine races, including US$12 million at stake in the showpiece Gr. 1 Dubai World Cup sponsored by Emirates Airline.
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OUR FACILITIES
International competitors are part of what makes the Dubai Racing Carnival and Dubai World Cup so special and at Meydan, we have two quarantine facilities – International Quarantine Stables that houses our EU and UK runners, and Dubai World Cup Quarantine Stables that houses our horses from the rest of the world. We have two tracks that are available to train on – the main track that has a dirt surface and the training track that has a tapeta and turf surface as well as a hacking track. We also have a trotting ring inside each quarantine facility, grass areas where horses can have a pick of grass and a swimming pool specifically for quarantine horses, so they don’t interact with locally trained horses. There are tack rooms and feed rooms in each barn available to use as well as a plentiful supply of hay and shavings. The facilities are equipped with rubber flooring everywhere for the safety of both horse and rider. We also offer apartments for any staff that are visiting with their horse as well as a canteen serving complimentary breakfast and dinner 7 days a week, a games room, an office facility, a covered car park and a swimming pool.
DRC Trainers &
Facilities
Our world-class stable and quarantine facilities are second to none
OUR Trainers
Dubai Racing Club proudly welcomes a diverse roster of international and UAE-based trainers to compete at Meydan Racecourse throughout he season. Several are directly employed by the Club, enjoying a full-time base at Meydan and access to our world-class training facilities.
Bhupat Seemar (Zabeel Stables)
Since beginning training in his own right in November 2021, Bhupat Seemar has been a sensation, becoming UAE Champion in his first season, the same year as he won his first Group 1, the Dubai Golden Shaheen, with Switzerland.
Born in India, Seemar learned his trade alongside such luminaries as Bob Baffert in the US, before moving to Dubai to take up a role as assistant at Zabeel Stables.
The 2023-24 season was another outstanding one for the handler, who won his second Championship, second G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen with Tuz, and became the first locally-based trainer to win the $12million Dubai World Cup sponsored by Emirates Airline, with the Juddmonte-owned Laurel River.
In April 2024, Seemar moved to a new base, Zabeel Stables, at Meydan Racecourse. Seemar has not lost a step since moving, picking up another G1 in the 2024-25 season with Walk Of Stars in the Al Maktoum Challenge. He also finished fourth in the UAE Trainers’ Championship, with 33 winners.
Musabbeh Al Mheiri (Oasis Stables)
One of Dubai’s most decorated horsemen, Musabbeh Al Mheiri has an excellent record at the top level, having won the G1 Al Quoz Sprint, Golden Shaheen, Jebel Hatta and Maktoum Challenge during his long career, which has seen him saddle more than 500 winners.
Operating out of Oasis Stables at Meydan Racecourse, UAE National Al Mheiri, won his third UAE Championship in the 2024-25 season, with 40 winners.
Al Mheiri, assisted for several years by former trainer Maria Ritchie, has also experienced huge success with Purebred Arabians and numbers several among his current string.
Doug Watson (Red Stables)
American-born Watson moved to Dubai in the early 1990s, famously driving the ambulance at the first Dubai World Cup in 1996.
Since then, his career has soared, and he moved from a role assisting trainer Kiaran McLaughlin to taking out his own licence in 2005. Based now, as he was then, at Red Stables, Watson has since sent out more than 750 winners and has been UAE Champion Trainer a record eight times. On 7 November, 2019, he became the first trainer to go through the card at Meydan Racecourse with a six-timer.
The 2023-24 season saw a notable breakthrough for the trainer who saddled his first Thoroughbred Group 1 winner when Kabirkhan took the Al Maktoum Challenge at Meydan. In April 2025 he claimed another success at the top level, this time with an Arabian, when First Classs won the Dubai Kahayla Classic on Dubai World Cup day, following up his victory in the G1 Emirates Championship at Abu Dhabi.
Salem Bin Ghadayer (Fazza Stables)
Salem bin Ghadayer has operated at the top level since taking out his licence in 2014. Training predominantly for HH Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of the UAE, Bin Ghadayer achieved almost instant success in his ‘cornflower blue’ silks when Frankyfourfingers won the 2015 G2 Maktoum Challenge Round 2.
Two years later, Bin Ghadayer struck for the first time at the top level when Long River won the G1 Maktoum Challenge Round 3, a race he also won in 2019 with Capezzano, 2020 with Matterhorn and Hypothetical in 2022. Other notable trainees include the popular Heavy Metal, a multiple Group 2 winner.
In 2019, Bin Ghadayer went agonisingly close to success in the $12million Dubai World Cup when Gronkowski finished a nose second to Godolphin’s Thunder Snow.
Bin Ghadayer, who is also a successful camel trainer, operates from the beautiful Fazza Stables in Nad Al Sheba. He has more than 200 UAE winners on his CV so far.
Ismail Mohammed (Millennium 2 Stables)
Ismail Mohammed is one of the longest serving trainers in Dubai history, having started out in the early 2000s.
Originally based in the Marmoon region of Dubai, UAE National Mohammed has won several of the biggest races in his homeland, including the 2007 UAE 1000 Guineas and Oaks with Folk and the G2 Maktoum Challenge Round 2 with Eu Tambem. He has also
operated successfully abroad; in 2006 winning the G1 Grande Premio Sao Paolo with Dono Da Raia.
Mohammed, who is also licensed as an owner, runs a dual stable, running horses out of his Newmarket, UK base during the summer.
Ali Al Badwawi (Millenium 3 Stables)
A long-time assistant to G1-winning trainer Erwan Charpy, UAE-born Ali Al Badwawi made an instant impact when taking out a licence in his own name in 2022, winning with his very first runner, Taamol, at Abu Dhabi.
Training initially for the Shadwell operation, Al Badwawi also celebrated Dubai Carnival success in his first season, when Moqtarreb won at Meydan. In 2025, Al Badwawi enjoyed multiple Dubai Racing Carnival success with Smart System, who won twice at Meydan.
A passionate horseman, Al Badwawi, who trained under renowned handler John Hills in the UK and briefly took out his jockeys’ license, currently operates from Millennium 3 Stables at Meydan.
Ahmad Bin Harmash (Al Aasfa Racing Stables)
Emirati Ahmad Bin Harmash is a lifelong horseman, having been assistant to trainer Mubarak Bin Shafya before taking out his own licence in 2013.
Based at Al Aasfa Racing Stables in the Marmoon region of Dubai, Bin Harmash achieved a notable early career success when Championship won the G2 Al Fahidi Fort at Meydan in 2017, before following up in the G2 Zabeel Mile a month later. Bin Harmash, one of the first trainers to recruit two-year-olds into training in the UAE, celebrated his first G3 UAE 2000 Guineas win when Golden Vekoma landed the 2025 Classic. That same horse gave him a notable victory abroad, landing the G3 Saudi Derby in Riyadh.
Recently, Bin Harmash has expanded into training Purebred Arabians as well as Thoroughbreds and this gave him his first Group 1 success, when Barakka won G1 Maktoum Challenge Round 2 in 2024.
On 5 April 2025, Bin Harmash celebrated the biggest day of his career so far when Dark Saffron won the G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen on Dubai World Cup night, beating an international line-up.
Bhupat Seemar (Zabeel Stables)
Since beginning training in his own right in November 2021, Bhupat Seemar has been a sensation, becoming UAE Champion in his first season, the same year as he won his first Group 1, the Dubai Golden Shaheen, with Switzerland.
Born in India, Seemar learned his trade alongside such luminaries as Bob Baffert in the US, before moving to Dubai to take up a role as assistant at Zabeel Stables.
The 2023-24 season was another outstanding one for the handler, who won his second Championship, second G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen with Tuz, and became the first locally-based trainer to win the $12million Dubai World Cup sponsored by Emirates Airline, with the Juddmonte-owned Laurel River.
In April 2024, Seemar moved to a new base, Zabeel Stables, at Meydan Racecourse. Seemar has not lost a step since moving, picking up another G1 in the 2024-25 season with Walk Of Stars in the Al Maktoum Challenge. He also finished fourth in the UAE Trainers’ Championship, with 33 winners.
Musabbeh Al Mheiri (Oasis Stables)
One of Dubai’s most decorated horsemen, Musabbeh Al Mheiri has an excellent record at the top level, having won the G1 Al Quoz Sprint, Golden Shaheen, Jebel Hatta and Maktoum Challenge during his long career, which has seen him saddle more than 500 winners.
Operating out of Oasis Stables at Meydan Racecourse, UAE National Al Mheiri, won his third UAE Championship in the 2024-25 season, with 40 winners.
Al Mheiri, assisted for several years by former trainer Maria Ritchie, has also experienced huge success with Purebred Arabians and numbers several among his current string.
Doug Watson (Red Stables)
American-born Watson moved to Dubai in the early 1990s, famously driving the ambulance at the first Dubai World Cup in 1996.
Since then, his career has soared, and he moved from a role assisting trainer Kiaran McLaughlin to taking out his own licence in 2005. Based now, as he was then, at Red Stables, Watson has since sent out more than 750 winners and has been UAE Champion Trainer a record eight times. On 7 November, 2019, he became the first trainer to go through the card at Meydan Racecourse with a six-timer.
The 2023-24 season saw a notable breakthrough for the trainer who saddled his first Thoroughbred Group 1 winner when Kabirkhan took the Al Maktoum Challenge at Meydan. In April 2025 he claimed another success at the top level, this time with an Arabian, when First Classs won the Dubai Kahayla Classic on Dubai World Cup day, following up his victory in the G1 Emirates Championship at Abu Dhabi.
Salem Bin Ghadayer (Fazza Stables)
Salem bin Ghadayer has operated at the top level since taking out his licence in 2014. Training predominantly for HH Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of the UAE, Bin Ghadayer achieved almost instant success in his ‘cornflower blue’ silks when Frankyfourfingers won the 2015 G2 Maktoum Challenge Round 2.
Two years later, Bin Ghadayer struck for the first time at the top level when Long River won the G1 Maktoum Challenge Round 3, a race he also won in 2019 with Capezzano, 2020 with Matterhorn and Hypothetical in 2022. Other notable trainees include the popular Heavy Metal, a multiple Group 2 winner.
In 2019, Bin Ghadayer went agonisingly close to success in the $12million Dubai World Cup when Gronkowski finished a nose second to Godolphin’s Thunder Snow.
Bin Ghadayer, who is also a successful camel trainer, operates from the beautiful Fazza Stables in Nad Al Sheba. He has more than 200 UAE winners on his CV so far.
Ismail Mohammed (Millennium 2 Stables)
Ismail Mohammed is one of the longest serving trainers in Dubai history, having started out in the early 2000s.
Originally based in the Marmoon region of Dubai, UAE National Mohammed has won several of the biggest races in his homeland, including the 2007 UAE 1000 Guineas and Oaks with Folk and the G2 Maktoum Challenge Round 2 with Eu Tambem. He has also
operated successfully abroad; in 2006 winning the G1 Grande Premio Sao Paolo with Dono Da Raia.
Mohammed, who is also licensed as an owner, runs a dual stable, running horses out of his Newmarket, UK base during the summer.
Ali Al Badwawi (Millenium 3 Stables)
A long-time assistant to G1-winning trainer Erwan Charpy, UAE-born Ali Al Badwawi made an instant impact when taking out a licence in his own name in 2022, winning with his very first runner, Taamol, at Abu Dhabi.
Training initially for the Shadwell operation, Al Badwawi also celebrated Dubai Carnival success in his first season, when Moqtarreb won at Meydan. In 2025, Al Badwawi enjoyed multiple Dubai Racing Carnival success with Smart System, who won twice at Meydan.
A passionate horseman, Al Badwawi, who trained under renowned handler John Hills in the UK and briefly took out his jockeys’ license, currently operates from Millennium 3 Stables at Meydan.
Ahmad Bin Harmash (Al Aasfa Racing Stables)
Emirati Ahmad Bin Harmash is a lifelong horseman, having been assistant to trainer Mubarak Bin Shafya before taking out his own licence in 2013.
Based at Al Aasfa Racing Stables in the Marmoon region of Dubai, Bin Harmash achieved a notable early career success when Championship won the G2 Al Fahidi Fort at Meydan in 2017, before following up in the G2 Zabeel Mile a month later. Bin Harmash, one of the first trainers to recruit two-year-olds into training in the UAE, celebrated his first G3 UAE 2000 Guineas win when Golden Vekoma landed the 2025 Classic. That same horse gave him a notable victory abroad, landing the G3 Saudi Derby in Riyadh.
Recently, Bin Harmash has expanded into training Purebred Arabians as well as Thoroughbreds and this gave him his first Group 1 success, when Barakka won G1 Maktoum Challenge Round 2 in 2024.
On 5 April 2025, Bin Harmash celebrated the biggest day of his career so far when Dark Saffron won the G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen on Dubai World Cup night, beating an international line-up.
