The latest horse racing news worldwide has seen many European racing figures left stranded in Dubai.
Rising tensions in the Middle East have ensured all flights to and from the city state have been suspended. Dubai International Airport was hit by an Iranian missile on Saturday.
Meydan hosted its Super Saturday meeting on that day. The headlines were made by Rebel’s Romance, who won for a 21st time in his career in the Group 2 Dubai City Of Gold. William Buick was in the saddle for Charlie Appleby, but both cannot return to the UK for now.
The Super Saturday meeting is regularly the final trial for horses competing at the Dubai World Cup in March. However, events outside of racing could have a say on that meeting’s imminent future.
Owen among those awaiting UK return
Also involved in the Dubai City Of Gold was 2025 Champion Hurdle runner-up Burdett Road. The six-year-old has not been campaigned over jumps this season and has remained on the flat.
He was third to Rebel’s Romance on Saturday, but his trainer James Owen has interests in both codes. He is set to saddle runners at the Cheltenham Festival next week.
For the moment, Owen will be unable to attend. He outlined his current situation to the Racing Post.
“There was a good bit [of noise] early on and then a bit more at lunchtime, but it’s been quiet the last few hours. You just feel that more will happen in the evening, and you wouldn’t feel safe up in the air at the minute.
“We’ve had staff here through the winter, and they are very worried. The horses are fine, but the staff – all of us – are worried, and not knowing which way it’s going to go is the hard part.”
As for his Cheltenham plans, Owen said: “I was planning to get back this morning…but we’re beholden to what happens. Hopefully things will calm down and the airports will open up.”
French trainer Nicolas Caullery is also stationed in Dubai currently. He penned a brief column of his own for the Racing Post, strikingly describing the tensions.
“It’s the sounds that make the biggest impression on you, you feel like something has gone off next door and it’s like something off Netflix from that point of view. Except that is always somewhere else in the world and you view things differently when it’s where you are.”
Escalating tensions between Israel and Iran in the region blew over from Friday onwards. Unsurprisingly from Caullery’s comments, racing is down the list of priorities for those involved for the time being.