Historically known for their championship-level Arabian Purebred racing, the Abu Dhabi Turf Club is aiming to increase its Thoroughbred racing profile and turn into a top-class destination for runners from around the world. The first step on that path is the HH The President Cup, a race worth AED 1 million, or approximately US$272,294.
The race takes place over 1,400 meters (about 7 furlongs) on turf Dec. 6 on the undercard of the 33rd UAE President Cup for Arabian Purebreds under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Post time is 7 p.m. local time, or 10 a.m. ET.
"You'll see in the coming years, the Thoroughbred offering will grow and we'll do it in a complementary way with the Purebred Arabian offering," ADTC racecourse director Dayle Brown said on the Dec. 1 episode of the BloodHorse Monday podcast. "We have both types of racing for the tradition, for people who love their Purebred Arabian racing, but also developing Thoroughbred racing, which has international appeal."
READ: UAE President Cup Displays Abu Dhabi’s Global Growth
The Thoroughbred edition of The President Cup has seen the ADTC's investment recently. Contested in February 2024 as an AED 380,000 race, it was shifted to December and contested again in 2024 under its current AED 1 million purse. The December 2024 winner, Make Me King, and the 2023 winner, Western Writer, are again in this year's race.
Both Western Writer and Make Me King won in a field of 11, and the February 2024 edition had 14. A full starting gate of 16 will run Saturday, with three reserves still hoping to get in as of Dec. 5.
Brown credited that bump in interest and quality of runners to the addition of the Abu Dhabi Gold Cup to the ADTC's schedule, a 1-mile turf race worth US$1 million set to debut Feb. 7. Scheduled three weeks in advance of Meydan's "Super Saturday" card, which itself is a prelude to the Dubai World Cup carnival, Brown believes the strengthening of the schedule will help keep top horses in the United Arab Emirates throughout the entire winter racing season.
"We really want to be a destination for international racing, as well as growing local racing," Brown said. "To be part of the carnivals that exist, to be part of the Saudi Cup and Dubai World Cup, to play a real role in that to grow the region exponentially."
The circuit is also aiming to develop international interest further. The ADTC has partnered with Churchill Downs to offer an automatic invitation to the 2027 Abu Dhabi Gold Cup to the winner of the 2026 Turf Classic Stakes (G1T) held on Kentucky Derby Day, May 2.
Aside from the size of the field, The President Cup also holds talent. In fact, the field drew enough quality that it left a high-profile international trainer, Charlie Appleby, on the reserve list with his Godolphin homebred Indian Springs, as well as Argentinian group 1 winner Giustino.
Shadwell's Danyah is the most well-known name in the field thanks to his top-level triumph on 2023 Dubai World Cup night in the Al Quoz Sprint (G1T) over 1,200 meters (about 6 furlongs). However, the now 8-year-old Invincible Spirit gelding has yet to recapture that form and is racing outside of Meydan for the first time since 2021.
Danyah is one of four runners trained by one of the top UAE trainers, Musabbeh Al Mheiri. The others do not carry the same past credentials as Danyah, but are entering in better recent form. Naser Askar's Echo Point exits a handicap win over 1,400 meters on dirt at Meydan Nov. 21 while Muhammet Ali's Mountbatten won a handicap Nov. 14 over the same course and distance he sees Saturday against several returning rivals.
The final of Al Mheiri's four runners is one who may be familiar to an American audience: Kubrick. Trained by Chad Brown for the 2024 season for owner Peter Brant, the son of Dubawi out of the Mr. Greeley mare Rosa Bonheur won an allowance race at Tampa Bay Downs and was last of six in Keeneland's Mile Stakes (G1T).
Offered at the 2024 Keeneland November Horses of Racing Age Sale, the horse was purchased by Chad Schumer/KGS for $180,000 from the ELiTE consignment. Now owned by Mohamed Eldubeba, Kubrick has made one start in the UAE for his new connections, finishing sixth in Meydan's Res Al Khor (G3) March 7 in a race that featured several of the rivals he faces Saturday, including winner Marbaan.
Kubrick will receive piloting from Southern California-based Italian jockey Antonio Fresu, who is riding in the UAE this month ahead of the Santa Anita Park meet that begins Dec. 26.
American blood is represented in several pedigrees among the large field, but perhaps the most unique is the presence of the Kentucky-bred mare Yodelling, dam of both Echo Point and Western Writer. The Medaglia d'Oro mare was a two-time winner for Godolphin who raced in Europe and participated in the 2015 U.A.E. One Thousand Guineas.
Watson Believes Abu Dhabi Filling a Needed Spot in Schedule
The UAE’s eight-time champion trainer, Doug Watson, will also be part of the field with Mohammed Khalifa Al Basti’s See Hector. The Counterattack gelding is making his first start for Watson after joining from the Jamie Osborne barn.
The horse does have some experience in the UAE, running three times at Meydan early this year, including a third in the 2,400-meter (about 1 1/2-mile) Dubai City of Gold (G2T).
Saturday’s 7-furlong task may prove too short for the runner, but his participation is proof of the benefits an improved Thoroughbred circuit at Abu Dhabi can provide.
”There’s nothing down here (at Meydan) that really suits him till later on in the carnival,” Watson said. “It gets a race into us and he might just pick up a check there; it’s a pretty good check.”
Watson said traditionally, turf racing options have not typically appeared on the Meydan calendar until January, although this year they do have a few in December.
Abu Dhabi, which features the only other turf course in the UAE, recently increased its Thoroughbred offerings to two races per card for most of the year. According to Watson, that makes a huge difference when it comes to bringing them off a summer break in November or December, especially for lower-tier horses, since most of Meydan’s turf races are set to prepare runners for World Cup night.
”It helps out a lot of horses that we can’t place somewhere on the dirt or Meydan on the turf,” Watson said. “(The ADTC) is helping out. It’s a nice turf course up there, a big straight and big sweeping turns.”
It also gives a horse like See Hector an opportunity to run for a large purse Saturday at the lower listed level. Watson reports the horse has trained very well in advance of his stable debut.
”He’s a nice horse, I do like him,” Watson said. “(The ADTC) really picked up the program over the last couple of years as far as number of Thoroughbred races. That’s the main thing for here, and I think they’ll add more higher class races throughout the season as the years go on.”
