Dubai Racing Club has announced a partnership with Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series. A premium alliance that enables winners of the G1 Dubai World Cup, G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen, G1 Longines Dubai Sheema Classic and G1 Dubai Turf to gain automatic entry to the Breeders’ Cup meeting.
Now in its 29th edition, the Dubai World Cup meeting on 5 April 2025 promises to be more spectacular and exciting than ever. Join ES Sport for exclusive access, hospitality and race action viewing on Dubai World Cup night.
A highly influential collaboration which reinforces the international status of the Dubai World Cup meeting, as one of the premier global horseracing events, attracting elite horses and associates from around the world. Acknowledged as the world’s most spectacular race day, Dubai World Cup 2025 is scheduled to take place on Saturday, 5 April 2025 at the magnificent Meydan Racecourse.
Sheikh Rashed Bin Dalmook Bin Juma Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Racing Club, observed: “This is a significant development for international horseracing, further strengthening the positioning of the Dubai World Cup and the Breeders’ Cup – two of the most important international meetings on the horseracing calendar.”
“We are delighted to enter this partnership and thank the Breeders’ Cup team for expanding their Challenge Series, allowing four winners from the Dubai World Cup 2025 meeting to compete in America later this year and we look forward to welcoming winners from the Breeders’ Cup 2025 at the Dubai World Cup 2026, in March next year,” he went on to say.
Dubai World Cup to Corresponding Breeders’ Cup races
Winners of the Dubai World Cup (G1), Dubai Golden Shaheen (G1), Longines Dubai Sheema Classic (G1), and Dubai Turf (G1) races will automatically qualify for places in corresponding Breeders’ Cup races, as follows:
- Dubai World Cup → Breeders’ Cup Classic
- Dubai Golden Shaheen → Cygames Breeders’ Cup Sprint
- Dubai Sheema Classic → Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf
- Dubai Turf → Breeders’ Cup Mile
The upcoming Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series is to be held at Del Mar, California, USA from 31 October to 1 November 2025
Drew Fleming, President and CEO of Breeders’ Cup Limited, added his comments: “Breeders’ Cup Limited is very pleased to expand our international Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series with the addition of the Dubai World Cup, the Dubai Golden Shaheen, the Dubai Sheema Classic, and the Dubai Turf.
“This partnership with our friends at the Dubai Racing Club speaks to continued progress made toward the global unification of our great sport and rewards international contenders for competing at the highest level. We appreciate the spirit of collaboration and the shared pursuit of excellence that brought this opportunity about and look forward to welcoming four Breeders’ Cup Challenge winners from Meydan to Del Mar.”
Among the reciprocal benefits included under the relationship between Breeders’ Cup Limited and the Dubai Racing Club, is that the winners of all four Breeders’ Cup races will receive an automatic starting position and free entry into the corresponding races at the 2026 Dubai World Cup meeting.
Benefits extended by the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series, include funding of entry fees on behalf of the winners from the four Dubai World Cup races enabling them to start in their designated divisions at the 2025 Breeders’ Cup World Championships. Breeders’ Cup will also pay a travel allowance for all starters based beyond the shores of North America. The Challenge winners must be nominated to the Breeders’ Cup programme by the pre-entry deadline of October 20, 2025, in order to receive their respective benefits.
Details on the Breeders’ Cup
Breeders’ Cup Limited administers the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Thoroughbred racing’s year-end Championships, as well as the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In, which provides automatic starting positions into the Championships races through partnerships with host countries around the globe, and the U.S.-based Dirt Dozen Bonus Series. The Breeders’ Cup operates under the national, uniform rules and regulations of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) and its Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU).
The 2025 Breeders’ Cup World Championships, feature 14 Grade 1 Championship races run over a two-day festival valued at more than $34 million in purses and awards, the event will be held from October 31 to November 1, 2025, at Del Mar in Del Mar, California, USA.
Dubai Racing Club
Dubai Racing Club (DRC) organises and hosts horseracing at Meydan Racecourse, from November through to April, including the Dubai Racing Carnival and the Dubai World Cup – widely known as ‘The world’s most spectacular race day.’ The Dubai World Cup is the highlight of Dubai’s sporting and social calendar and attracts the best horses, jockeys, trainers and influential owners from around the world, awarding total prize money of US$ 30.5 million across a showcase meeting involving nine sensational races, a sum which includes US$ 12 million to be won in the headline contest.
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