The Al Maktoum Challenge, Round 3, is a

horse race Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

run over a distance of 2,000 metres (one and a quarter miles) on dirt in March at

Meydan Racecourse Meydan Racecourse is a racecourse in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The grandstand is over a mile in length, and can accommodate over 60,000 spectators. Meydan opened on 27 March 2010, replacing Nad Al Sheba Racecourse, which formerly occu ...

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics ...

. It is the third of three races in the Al Maktoum Challenge series which serve as trial races for the

Dubai World Cup The Dubai World Cup (Arabic: كأس دبي العالمي) is a Thoroughbred horse race held annually since 1996 and contested at the Meydan Racecourse (Arabic: ميدان) which in Arabic suggests a place wher ...

. It was first run in 1994 on dirt at

Nad Al Sheba Racecourse Nad Al Sheba Racecourse was Thoroughbred horse racing facility in Dubai, United Arab Emirates opened in 1986. It had a 2,200 m left-handed dirt race track and a left-handed turf course of the same distance. It operated from November through Marc ...

. It was transferred to Meydan in 2010 where it was run on the synthetic Tapeta Footings surface. In 2015 the synthetic surface at Meydan was replaced by a dirt track. The race was originally run over 52,400 metres before he current distance was established in 1996. The race began as an ungraded stakes race before attaining Listed status in 1996. The race was elevated to Group 3 level in 2000 and became a Group 2 event in 2002. The race became a Group 1 event in 2012.

Records

Record time: *1:59.60 - Dubai Millennium (2000) Most wins by a horse: * 2 - Salute The Soldier (2021, 2023) Most wins by a jockey: * 7 -

Frankie Dettori Lanfranco Dettori (; born 15 December 1970), better known as Frankie Dettori, is an Italian horse racing jockey based in the United Kingdom. Dettori has been British flat racing Champion Jockey three times and h ...

(1996, 1997, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2008) Most wins by a trainer: * 11 -

Saeed bin Suroor Saeed bin Suroor (born 16 November 1968 in Dubai) is a horse racing trainer in Great Britain. He took out his training licence in 1993 and the following year was appointed as the trainer for Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin operation. He has been ...

(1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2013, 2014, 2015) Most wins by an owner: * 8 -

Godolphin Racing Godolphin (Arabic: جودلفين) is the Maktoum family's private Thoroughbred horseracing stable and was named in honour of the Godolphin Arabian, who came from the desert to become one of the three founding stallions of the modern Thoroug ...

(1996, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2013, 2015)

Winners

References

Racing Post ''Racing Post'' is a British daily horse racing, greyhound racing and sports betting publisher which is published in print and digital formats. It is printed in tabloid format from Monday to Sunday. , it has an average daily circulation of ...

: **, , , , , , , , , **, , , , , , , , , **, , , , , , , , , {{Racing Post, 834356, 2023, 03, 04, 1231 Horse races in the United Arab Emirates Recurring events established in 1994 Nad Al Sheba Racecourse 1994 establishments in the United Arab Emirates

Records

Winners

See also

References