Abu Dhabi ready to shine in its new Gold Cup glory
UAE capital stages richest race at $1.29m on Feb 7, winner earns G1 US Turf Classic ticket
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Cicero's Gift (Jason Watson) scoring a 100-1 upset in the Group 1 Qyeen Elizabeth II Stakes (1,600m) at Ascot on Oct 18. The Charlie Hills-trained Muhaarar six-year-old has been entered for the inaugural Abu Dhabi Gold Cup (1,600m) on Feb 7.
PHOTO: RACING AND SPORT
Michael Lee
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Abu Dhabi will stage its richest horse race with the running of the inaugural Abu Dhabi Gold Cup on Feb 7.
With a total purse of US$1 million (S$1.29 million), of which 60 per cent goes to the winner, the Listed one-turn turf mile event will be the most valuable thoroughbred race to be ever held in Abu Dhabi.
The capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is host to one of the Middle-East country’s five race clubs under the umbrella of the Emirates Racing Authority, headed by its Dubai flagship in Meydan, and three other clubs in Al Ain, Jebel Ali and Sharjah.
Entries are free and close on Feb 4, while travel and stabling costs for overseas runners will be undertaken by the Abu Dhabi Turf Club with owners, trainers and jockeys also hosted for the event, all expenses paid.
“The US$1 million Abu Dhabi Gold Cup will be the most valuable turf mile race to be staged in the Gulf region in 2026. The new race demonstrates the ambition and vision of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the determination to take horse racing in Abu Dhabi to new levels,” said Abu Dhabi Turf Cub’s racing manager Ali Al Jaffal.
“The Abu Dhabi Turf Club has long been an integral part of the globally respected horse racing scene in the UAE and we look forward to attracting a truly international cast of participants to the inaugural Abu Dhabi Gold Cup, and to developing the race into one of the most prestigious turf mile contests in the world in the years to come.”
Taking a leaf from a current global trend in reciprocal link-ups between racing jurisdictions, the Abu Dhabi Gold Cup winner will gain an automatic berth to the US$1 million Grade 1 Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic Stakes (1,800m) at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby Day, May 2.
In 2025, Parchment Party earned a golden ticket to Australia’s Melbourne Cup by winning the Grade 3 Belmont Gold Cup in Saratoga in June.
Over the past weekend, winners of three Group 1 races on King’s Plate day in Cape Town, South Africa, snapped up a “Win and You’re In” start to three corresponding races at the Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Keeneland, Kentucky in October.
In an agreement between Abu Dhabi Turf Club and Churchill Downs Inc, entry fees will be waived for the Turf Classic, while the Abu Dhabi Turf Club will offer travel stipends to the winner.
“Churchill Downs Inc is fully committed to encouraging international participation in our extensive portfolio of Grade 1 races, and we are delighted to announce the new link-up between the Grade 1 Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic and the inaugural Abu Dhabi Gold Cup, which is the most valuable mile race in the Gulf region,” said its vice-president of racing Gary Palmisano.
“The Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic is one of five Grade 1 races on Kentucky Derby Day, annually one of the most spectacular days of sport in America broadcast to tens of millions of people throughout the world, and the association with the Abu Dhabi Turf Club is a demonstration of our commitment to international racing at the highest level.”
The undercard on Abu Dhabi Gold Cup day will also feature competitive races for both thoroughbreds and purebred Arabians highlighted by the Group 1 Alanudd Classic (2,200m), Group 2 Liwa Oasis (1,400m) and the Listed Arabian Triple Crown (1,600m) for purebred Arabians, and the Listed Abu Dhabi Championship (2,400m) for thoroughbreds.
One offshore racing personality who has already expressed interest in the Abu Dhabi marquee race is well-known Group 1-winning British trainer Charlie Hills.
“Congratulations must go to the Abu Dhabi Turf Club for creating this new US$1 million contest and we have already nominated our Group 1 winner Cicero’s Gift for the race through the International Racing Bureau,” said Hills to the UK’s Racing TV.
“There are not many opportunities of this magnitude for top-class milers at this time of year and I can see the Abu Dhabi Gold Cup quickly establishing itself as an important race in the international calendar as well as the Abu Dhabi Turf Club becoming an increasingly powerful force in world racing.”
Cicero’s Gift had mostly flown under the radar as a decent UK stakes winner until his 100-1 claim to fame in the Group 1 Qipco Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (1,600m) at Ascot on Oct 18.
