The Dubai World Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held in the UAE annually since 1996. The race is operated through the Emirates Racing Authority (ERA) whose Chairman is Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Presidential Affairs of the United Arab Emirates. It offers nine races, consisting of eight Thoroughbred contests and one Purebred Arabian contest.

 

Held on the last Saturday in March, the Dubai World Cup is part of the Dubai World Cup Night of races, and has carried a purse of USD ten million since 2010. It was the world's richest horse race[3] until it was surpassed by the Pegasus World Cup in 2017. It is a Group 1 flat race on dirt for Northern Hemisphere Thoroughbred four-year-olds & up and for Southern Hemisphere Thoroughbred three-year-olds & up run over a distance of 2,000 metres (about 10 furlongs) in late March. It was held at Nad Al Sheba Racecourse before 2009. In 2010, the Dubai World Cup was first held at the new Meydan Racecourse on March 27, on all-weather surface known as Tapeta. However, it was held as dirt race again in 2015 due to the high maintenance cost and being an unpopular condition among American participants.

 

The race's first winner was the future United States Hall of Fame Thoroughbred Cigar, owned by Allen E. Paulson. The 2017 winner of the Dubai World Cup was also the Hall of Famer, Arrogate.

 

This spectacular day of racing boasts total purses of $30m for 9 Group races, a fantastic Dubai World Cup Ceremony show climaxed with a music concert featuring an international star.

 

The region’s premier equestrian event pays tribute to the Arabian love affair with horses and is also one of the UAE’s biggest social and sporting events.

 

The Dubai World Cup Carnival leads to the season-ending Dubai World Cup day, the richest day of racing in the world.The Dubai World Cup Carnival, worth more than US$10 m in prize money across 10 race meetings, runs from January to March every year and is a season of high-class international race days contested by the most high-profile owners, trainers, horses and jockeys in the world. It runs alongside the domestic Racing at Meydan season.

 

The major prep for Dubai World Cup day is the Super Saturday meeting, held on Saturday March 10, 2018. Super Saturday allows trainers to put the finishing touches to their equine stars before appearing on racing’s biggest stage - Dubai World Cup day. As the official dress rehearsal for the Dubai World Cup it is a major social occasion.