UAE trial fields more than double to 88 horses at Meydan

The third trial meeting of the 2026-27 UAE season drew 88 horses to 13 races at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai, the UAE Horse Racing Authority said in a statement published by the state news agency WAM in Arabic late on 15 October 2026, with an English version the next morning. That is more than double the 41 horses that, according to the authority, ran at each of the first two trials.

The field comprised 75 purebred Arabians, 59 of them unraced and 16 with racing experience, and 13 Thoroughbreds, seven newcomers and six that had raced before. Rashid Al Balushi, a member of the authority’s stewards committee, said participation had risen significantly, reflecting growing interest among owners, trainers and jockeys, WAM reported. He added that trials will continue throughout the season ahead of the scheduled races. WAM’s English service calls the body the UAE Horse Racing Authority; in the Arabic statement its name translates as Emirates Horse Racing Authority.

From Jebel Ali to Meydan

The second trial, at Jebel Ali Racecourse and announced on 8 October, drew its 41 horses to seven races: 37 purebred Arabians, 28 of them unraced and nine with racing experience, and four Thoroughbreds that had raced before. Two of those races were over 1,000 metres and five over 800 metres, WAM reported. In that statement Al Balushi said the trials would follow a set schedule in line with the approved calendar, with the third to be held the following Wednesday.

Between the second and third trials the number of unraced Arabians rose from 28 to 59, and Thoroughbreds from four to 13. The statements give no breakdown for the first trial, and the third-trial statement gives neither race distances nor the date of the meeting. The authority did not publish trial times, ownership or trainer breakdowns, the location of future trials, or how many of the horses it expects to see in races before the end of the year.

Equanine’s reading

• Unraced Arabians made up 59 of the 88 runners at the third trial, so the Arabian programme has a large intake of new horses heading for the season’s scheduled races.
• Thoroughbreds remain a minority at the trials, 13 at the third, so these figures say more about Arabian racing in the UAE than about the Thoroughbred side.
• For trainers, agents and sales companies, trial numbers are an early and public gauge of how many horses are in UAE training. The next trial statements will show whether the jump to 88 holds once racing starts.