Dubai World Cup

[shawarma]

• What? Dubai World Cup 2009, an annual horse race - the final of seven races on the day, with US$6 million in prize money. Two other races are worth US$5 million each - the Dubai Duty Free and the Dubai Sheema Classic. For many expats though, it's all about digging out posh frocks, big hats, and smart suits, and then misbehaving badly in the International Village.
• Where? Nadd / Nad Al Sheba race course (in 2010 the Dubai World Cup will be at the new Meydan racecourse ... if it gets finished on time)
• When? Saturday 28 March 2009
• Time? Event starts at 1400 (2pm), the last Dubai World Cup race is at 9:30pm. Partying continues for several hours after that.
• How much? (prices are per person)
  Public Enclosure - free? Was free in 2008. Might have been renamed as ...
  ... Paddock Lawns.
  International Village - was AED 180 in 2008. Looks like it might have been renamed as ...
  ... Apron Views - AED 225. Apron Views is new for 2009 and includes the Irish Village, Bubble Lounge, Wine Room, etc (in other words, International Village)
  Maktoum Terrace - AED 1000
  Millenium Terrace - AED 1400
  Rails Restaurant - AED 1600
  Al Dana Hospitality marquee - AED 2500
  Silks - AED 2500
  The Gallery - AED 2600
  Infield Gardens - unavailable?
  
  Apart from the International Village / Apron Views, and Public Enclosure / Paddock Lawns, tickets usually include varying quantities and qualities of food and plonk, and other extras such as car parking, badges, and cloth napkins. Paddock Lawns is probably just an enclosed bit of grass to stand in and observe the galloping nags, and Apron Views is where you buy what you want. All tickets appear to include entry into the Pick Seven competition. Higher priced tickets allow entry to the Paddock Lawns and the Real Party ... er ... Apron Views.
  
• Tickets from where? DWC website. Or telephone?
• Organisers? Hosted by the three UAE racing clubs: Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club, Dubai Racing Club and Jebel Ali Racecourse. CEO of the Dubai Racing Club is Frank Gabriel Jr. Hopefully he's got enough metal detectors organised this year so everyone can get in on time.
• Main Sponsors? Emirates Airlines for the Dubai World Cup. Nakheel for the Dubai Sheema Classic. Dubai Duty Free for the Dubai Duty Free.
• Contact tel? +971-4-3270077 (Dubai Racing Club)
• Website?

Anything else?

Dubai World Cup 2008 - previous topic
The 2009 DWC is the 14th time being run at Nad Al Sheba.

[shawarma]

UAE horse racing season 2008-2009

• The Dubai horse racing season starts on Thursday 06 November 2008 at Nad Al Sheba with a total of 21 events during the season.
• The Winter Racing Challenge is made up of the the first 10 fixtures.
• The Dubai International Racing Carnival (DIRC) starts Thursday 15 January 2009 with 10 events in the weekends and the first rounds of the Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum Challenge, and the final event of the DIRC is the Super Thursday meeting on Thursday 05 March 2009
• Jebel Ali Racecourse has 10 weekly events, starting on Friday 21 November 2008
• Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club has 15 weekly events, starting on Sunday 09 November 2008

[shawarma]

2009 Dubai World Cup entry card (information from press release 23 January 2009)

The DWC 2009 meeting received 1600 entries from 27 countries with 263 from 16 countries for the final 2009 DWC race itself (more than half of them from the UAE). Entries include

Dubai World Cup 2009 - US$6 million, sponsor Emirates Airlines
Albert Maximus (Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner)
Asiatic Boy (2nd in the 2008 DWC)
Colonel John
Daiwa Scarlet
Honour Devil
Well Armed (3rd in the 2008 DWC)

Countries and number of horses entered for the Dubai World Cup are

UAE - 143
United States - 39
South Africa -18
Great Britain - 13
Japan - 10
Saudi Arabia - 9
Brazil - 7
France - 7
Peru - 6
Qatar - 5
Argentina - 1
Bahrain - 1
Czechoslovakia - 1
Ireland - 1
Mauritius - 1
Uruguay - 1

Entries for other races include

Dubai Sheema Classic - US$5,000,000, sponsor Nakheel, 280 entries from 18 countries
Doctor Dino (3rd in 2008, and Hong Kong Vase winner)
Eagle Mountain
Sun Classique
Viva Pataca
Screen Hero (Japan Cup winner)
Youmzain (5th in 2008, 3rd in 2007)

Dubai Duty Free (DDF) - US$5,000,000, sponsor is DDF (that would have been a tricky one to guess), 333 entries, 19 countries
Archipenko (3rd in 2008)
Jay Peg
Lady Marian (Prix de l’Opera winner)
Lush Lashes
Vodka (4th in 2008)
Weekend Hussler (Horse of the Year in Australia, what ever that means. Is there a Playhorse magazine?)

Dubai Golden Shaheen - US$2,000,000, sponsor Gulf News, 154 entries
Apache Cat
Indian Blessing
J J The Jet Plane
Marchand D’Or
Sleepless Night

UAE Derby - US$2,000,000, sponsor S & M Al Naboodah Group, 154 entries from 14 countries
Midshipman
Pioneer of the Nile
Sky Diva
Square Eddie
Vineyard Heaven

Godolphin Mile - US$1,000,000, sponsor Etisalat, 332 entries from 18 countries
Harlem Rocker
Tale of Ekati

Dubai Kahayla Classic - US$250,000, sponsor Emaar, 53 entries from 7 countries
Mizzna (2008 winner)
Kandar Du Falgas (winner Al Maktoum Challenge Round 1)
Nashwan Al Khalidiah (winner French Group 1)

[shawarma]

Tickets for the Apron Views (what used to be the International Village) are apparently sold out. So it's either the expensive seats or watch it on the TV ...

[shawarma]

First place by a mile (well, not quite but a big win anyway) in the Dubai World Cup 2009 was Well Armed (who came 3rd in the DWC 2008).
Second place was Gloria de Campeao, 14 lengths behind the winner.
Third place was Paris Perfect.

How was the party? Wet?