Dubai turf sprint shortened to five furlongs

The Dubai Racing Club announced on Tuesday that the distance of the Al Quoz Sprint, a Group 2 turf race run on Dubai World Cup Night, has been shortened from six furlongs to five furlongs.

The race was run on World Cup Night for the first time this past March when it was won by the Hong Kong-trained Joy and Fun with Godolphin’s Fravashi second and the Brian Koriner-trained California Flag third.

According to Dubai Racing Club CEO Frank Gabriel, the change was made in large part because the Dubai Golden Shaheen, which is run the same night on the Meydan Tapeta surface, is also run at six furlongs.

“As we saw with the move to the all-weather surface, a number of the world’s best turf sprinters opted to run in the Golden Shaheen, and rather than have two races compete for the same runners, we decided to bring the Al Quoz Sprint on turf back to five furlongs.” Gabriel said.

This year’s Dubai World Cup meeting will be held on Saturday, March 26.