Dubai World Cup: Dates, runners, history & more

The Dubai World Cup meeting is the richest raceday in the Middle East and the culmination of the Dubai Racing Carnival at Meydan Racecourse.

The meeting takes place at the end of March, traditionally on the final Saturday of the month, and consists of eight races with huge prize money on offer, ensuring the meeting attracts stars from the Middle East, Europe, the United States, Japan and South Africa to Meydan.

Here's our guide to the Dubai World Cup race meeting.

Dubai World Cup Date

The 2024 Dubai World Cup takes place on Saturday 30th March.

Dubai World Cup Times

Racing get underway around 12.05 UK time, with the eight-race programme culminating in the Dubai World Cup itself at 4.35 UK time.

Dubai World Cup Location

The Dubai World Cup meeting takes place at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

Meydan opened on 27th March, 2010, replacing what was formerly Nad Al Sheba Racecourse, which occupied the same site.

As well as the turf and dirt tracks, Meydan boasts a horse racing museum and five-star hotel, the Meydan Marina, and a nine-hole golf course, while it serves as a business and conference centre when racing is not taking place.

The main grandstand at Meydan measures half-a-mile in length and can accommodate a staggering 60,000 spectators.

Dubai World Cup How to watch

The Dubai World Cup Night card is shown on terrestrial television in the UK and Ireland by ITV, with selected races on offer. Both Sky Sports Racing and Racing TV had live coverage of the entire card from Meydan on World Cup Night in 2023.

Dubai World Cup Details

The feature race is run over one-mile-and-two-furlongs (1200 metres) on the left-handed dirt track at Meydan.

Dubai World Cup History

The Dubai World Cup meeting was inaugurated in 1996 and has been run since under the auspices of the Emirates Racing Authority every year except 2020, when the event was cancelled.

The Dubai World Cup was created by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, who owns Darley Stud & Godolphin Racing, one of the world's leading Thoroughbred breeding and racing operations.

Since its inception, the Dubai World Cup itself has often been billed as the world's richest horse race.

The first winner of the Dubai World Cup was American-trained Cigar for handler Bill Mott, with Jerry Bailey on board. Dubai Millennium (2000) was the first Godolphin winner of the big race, while in 2023 Ushba Tesoro became the first Japanese-trained winner.

Dubai World Cup Most Successful Jockey

American Jerry Bailey won the first two renewals in 1996 and 1997, latterly on Singspiel for Sir Michael Stoute, and scored again in 2001 on Captain Steve for Bob Baffert and 2002 on Street Cry for Saeed bin Suroor.

His tally of four wins is matched by Frankie Dettori. The Italian has won on Dubai Millennium (2000), Moon Ballad (2003), Electrocutionist (2006) and Country Grammer (2022).

Dubai World Cup Most Successful Trainer

That honour rests with Saeed bin Suroor and his nine wins (1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2019). His alliance with Godolphin has been pivotal, with the famous royal blue silks carried to success in 2000, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2019 and 2021.

Dubai World Cup Most Successful Horse

Only in the 27-year history of the Dubai World Cup has a horse managed multiple wins and that was Thunder Snow for bin Suroor, Godolphin and rider Christophe Soumillon in 2018 and 2019.

Dubai World Cup Recent Winners

Below are the winners of the Dubai World Cup since 2010:

Year	Horse	Trainer	Jockey
2010	Gloria de Campeao	Pascal Bary	TJ Pereira
2011	Victoire Pisa	Katsuhiko Sumii	Mirco Demuro
2012	Monterosso	Mahmood al Zarooni	Mickael Barzalona
2013	Animal Kingdom	Graham Motion	Joel Rosario
2014	African Story	Saeed bin Suroor	Silvestre de Sousa
2015	Prince Bishop	Saeed bin Suroor	William Buick
2016	California Chrome	Art Sherman	Victor Espinoza
2017	Arrogate	Bob Baffert	Mike Smith
2018	Thunder Snow	Saeed Bin Suroor	Christophe Soumillon
2019	Thunder Snow	Saeed Bin Suroor	Christophe Soumillon
2021	Mystic Guide	Mike Stidham	Luis Saez
2022	Country Grammer	Bob Baffert	Frankie Dettori
2023	Ushba Tesoro	Noboru Takagi	Yuga Kawada

Dubai World Cup Other Races

There is a strong eight-race programme on the Dubai World Cup Night card at Meydan, with the supporting racing listed below.

·         Godolphin Mile (Group 2, 1m, Dirt)

·         Dubai Gold Cup (Group 2, 2m, Turf)

·         Al Quoz Sprint (Group 1, 6f, Turf)

·         UAE Derby (Group 2, 1m1½f, Dirt)

·         Dubai Golden Shaheen (Group 1, 6f, Dirt)

·         Dubai Turf (Group 1, 1m1f, Turf)

·         Dubai Sheema Classic (Group 1, 1m4f, Turf)

Any odds displayed were correct at the time of writing and are subject to fluctuation.