Dubai sets 2010-11 race dates

Next year’s $10 million Dubai World Cup will be run on Saturday, March 26, at Meydan Racecourse, the Emirates Racing Authority announced on Wednesday. That will be the last of 20 meetings during the 2010-11 season at Meydan, the glittering new track that opened this year on Jan. 28. Meydan will reopen this season on Nov. 11 for the first of nine evenings of racing before the start of Dubai International Racing Carnival on Jan. 13, the date of Round 1 of the Maktoum Challenge.

The dirt track at Jebel Ali will open the UAE season on Friday, Nov. 5. An addition to this year’s schedule will bring an afternoon of racing to Jebel Ali on Friday, March 25, the day before Dubai World Cup Night, enabling racegoers from around the world to visit the track in Dubai’s economic free zone.

The Meydan Masters jockey challenge, a four-race competition featuring some of the best riders from around the world, will be a two-night affair at Meydan on Feb. 17 and 18. Super Thursday, also known as Dubai World Cup preview night, is scheduled for Meydan on March 3. In the past that has always been the last evening of racing at Meydan, or at the now-defunct Nad Al Sheba, before World Cup Night. This season, The racing authority has added an additional evening of racing at Meydan on Thursday, March 10.

All told, the country will conduct 20 days of racing at Meydan, 15 at the all-turf track at Abu Dhabi, 11 at Jebel Ali, and four at Sharjah.