![\"Colin](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/86604_2329438jp.jpg\")
<\/p>\nSeveral members of the Irish racing community were in Dubai last weekend for the Emirates Super Saturday when the attacks began on the Gulf region<\/p>\n
10:02, 03 Mar 2026Updated 10:03, 03 Mar 2026<\/p>\n
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Colin Keane on Crystal Black (Image: \u00a9INPHO\/Tom Maher)<\/p>\n
The crisis in the Middle East has put the Cheltenham Festival plans of one leading Irish jockey in doubt.<\/p>\n
Several members of the racing community were in Dubai last weekend for the Emirates Super Saturday, which took place at Meydan Racecourse.<\/p>\n
They had hoped to return home on Sunday but the US and Israel\u2019s joint attack on Iran on Saturday afternoon and the subsequent missile retaliation on Dubai and other regions of the Gulf, has meant that all commercial flights to and from the region are cancelled.<\/p>\n
Six-time champion Irish flat jockey Colin Keane<\/a> is among the racing contingent currently grounded in Dubai that includes fellow top riders Ryan Moore and Oisin Murphy<\/a> and Irish-based trainer Johnny Murtagh.<\/p>\n Keane will now hope that flights will resume out of Dubai soon as he\u2019s planning to partner the Noel Meade-trained<\/a> The Mourne Rambler in the Champion Bumper at Cheltenham next Wednesday.<\/p>\n He was in Dubai to partner his dad Gerry\u2019s Crystal Black in the Group Two Singspiel Stakes, the eight-year-old finishing a disappointing eighth in a race won by Rebel’s Romance.<\/p>\n Keane only announced last week that he was taking the unusual decision to ride in the only flat race at the Cheltenham Festival, in a bid to emulate Jamie Spencer, who won the 2007 renewal on Pizarro when a flat jockey.<\/p>\n His father Gerry, who didn\u2019t travel to Dubai, told the Meath Chronicle that Keane believed the rocket attacks on Dubai to be an earthquake at first.<\/p>\n “He thought it was an earthquake at first. A missile hit a hotel close to where he had been staying, so he moved out to Meydan, beside the racecourse, where it is safer, but he is concerned as to when he can get home.<\/p>\n “Luckily, we are able to keep in contact with him all the time, but it is very frightening. He could hear the loud explosions. We also have James Hyland out there, who went out with the horse.<\/p>\n “Colin was supposed to come back on Sunday, but the airport was closed. He travelled out on Tuesday. The horse flew out in January and is booked to come home on the 10th March. Hopefully by then things will be running normally.”<\/p>\n Dubai\u2019s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed, was present at the \u20ac2.5 million Super Saturday event and there are no real fears that the tensions in the middle east could lead to the \u20ac30 million Dubai World Cup being called off on March 28th.<\/p>\n Johnny Murtagh should be busy on the Curragh training his string for the imminent flat season at home, but he\u2019s another stuck in Dubai, having saddled a runner on Saturday.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody from the racing community is here in Meydan, well, 90 per cent of those who came for Super Saturday. The place is packed with racing people, Irish, English, French, and we\u2019re just holding tight,\u201d he told the Irish Times.<\/p>\n REPRO FREE***PRESS RELEASE NO REPRODUCTION FEE*** EDITORIAL USE ONLY \u201cWe don\u2019t know how long we\u2019re going to be stuck here. Airspace is all closed. People are saying it will open on Wednesday, but there\u2019s loads of rumours, and we\u2019re doing this, and doing that. We don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s been no announcement from Dubai because they don\u2019t probably know either. Stay inside, that\u2019s basically what we\u2019re told. I went down to the market there earlier to buy clothes and it\u2019s quiet around the shopping centres. It seems a lot quieter than normal.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were explosions (during Saturday\u2019s racing). You could see drones in the sky and explosions. Sheikh Mohammed turned up and I thought if he\u2019s at the races it\u2019s probably as safe as anywhere in Dubai. It just seemed to carry on as normal. It all doesn\u2019t seem to be as big here as from what I\u2019m hearing from people watching on TV at home.\u201d<\/p>\n The Cheltenham Festival begins on Tuesday March 10th, while the Irish flat season begins on Sunday March 15th at the Curragh.<\/p>\n Want to see more of the stories you love from the Irish Mirror? <\/strong>Making us your preferred source on Google<\/a><\/strong> means you\u2019ll get more of our exclusives, top stories and must-read content straight away. To add Irish Mirror as a preferred source, simply <\/strong>click here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0_inpho_02322568.jpg\")
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\nJohnny Murtagh Yard Visit, The Curragh, Kildare 31\/8\/2023
\nJohnny Murtagh does his final bit of preparation ahead of the Irish Champions Festival, Saturday September 9 at Leopardstown Racecourse and Sunday September 10 at the Curragh
\nPictured is Johnny Murtagh
\nMandatory Credit \u00a9INPHO\/Tom Maher<\/p>\n