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SILVESTRE DE SOUSA, EL NASSEEB \/ G3 Mahab Al Shimaal \/\/ Meydan \/\/\/ 2026 \/\/\/\/ Photo by World Pool <\/p>\nIt\u2019s Monday afternoon and Hong Kong trainer Chris So is in an unusually quiet Dubai shopping mall not far from the Meydan Hotel where he is staying alongside a raft of racing folk and star jockeys including Oisin Murphy, Mickael Barzalona and another of the Hong Kong stranded, Karis Teetan.<\/p>\n
Ryan Moore is also grounded after riding at Dubai\u2019s Super Saturday meeting at which Dubai\u2019s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum watched trackside before drones and missiles were seen in the distance, across the city\u2019s skyline.<\/p>\n
Dubai, neighbouring Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia were on high alert all weekend as their air defence systems worked overtime to prevent Iran\u2019s missile and deadly drone barrage from wreaking havoc and horror. They are still on alert. Most of the airports remain closed. Life is largely on hold.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s so quiet,\u201d So tells Idol Horse. \u201cDubai feels like a peaceful place now.\u201d<\/p>\n
But at least three people have died in the UAE after Iran launched what the UAE defence ministry tallied up as 137 missiles and 209 drones into the country\u2019s airspace on Saturday in retaliation to devastating Israeli\/U.S. airstrikes on Iranian targets. Those strikes on Iran killed the country\u2019s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and have led so far to a death toll of at least 555 people across 131 Iranian counties, according to Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n
The question is whether Dubai is now experiencing the calm after the explosive storm or the storm\u2019s deceptive eye with more bombardments to come.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Monday morning, far to the north, the day started with Israel responding to attacks from Hezbollah in Lebanon with strikes on Beirut; it continued with fighting words from Iran, stating its intent to hit the U.S. fleet in Cyprus, and more from the U.S, with the latter\u2019s president Donald Trump telling CNN he \u201cdidn\u2019t want to see (the conflict) go on too long \u2026 I always thought it would be four weeks,\u201d adding, \u201cWe\u2019re a little ahead of schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n
What tonight or tomorrow or the next day will bring is unknown. As the casualty count rises, as stocks fall and oil and gas prices soar, people are hoping for a peaceful resolution and soon.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the fight of the big people,\u201d says Silvestre de Sousa, the man currently leading the UAE jockey premiership. \u201cIt\u2019s scary, you just don\u2019t know what to do. When you finish your work, is it the end of the day or is it the end of your time? Will I be having this phone call with you tomorrow? It makes you think.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Brazilian was focused during racing Saturday night \u2013 \u201cYou do your job\u201d \u2013 but he was aware of what was brewing and there was talk behind the starting gate about the situation.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, Murphy, Britain\u2019s champion jockey, says he \u201cFeels safe here,\u201d adding, \u201cThere was no conflict that I was aware of, aerial conflict, while we were riding, it really wasn\u2019t going on in my mind. I wouldn\u2019t say we\u2019re involved in any direct conflict.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just we don\u2019t know when we can leave. We are just waiting like everyone else for more information.\u201d<\/p>\n
De Sousa has not waited around. He has moved temporarily from his apartment to what he hopes is a peaceful spot away from the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re about two hours outside the city,\u201d he tells Idol Horse. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to avoid the cities, you know, where the high buildings are. I don\u2019t think we are 100 percent safe, but I think if you\u2019re away from Dubai where the activity is \u2026 Where I usually stay, that\u2019s close to everything that was happening.\u201d<\/p>\n
SILVESTRE DE SOUSA, EL NASSEEB \/ G3 Mahab Al Shimaal \/\/ Meydan \/\/\/ 2026 \/\/\/\/ Photo by World Pool <\/p>\n
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SILVESTRE DE SOUSA, EL NASSEEB \/ G3 Mahab Al Shimaal \/\/ Meydan \/\/\/ 2026 \/\/\/\/ Photo by Dubai Racing Club<\/p>\n
There is a lot of not-knowing around the Gulf\u2019s racing scene and that makes for rumour and conjecture.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs the Dubai World Cup cancelled? I heard that,\u201d one person asked. Others wondered if racing would be on this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt goes ahead at this stage,\u201d one official source at Meydan says.<\/p>\n
Japan\u2019s great dirt track runner Forever Young is already at Meydan ahead of the Dubai World Cup on March 28, and trainer Yoshito Yahagi\u2019s stable social media showed the horse and his groom appearing happy there on Monday morning. But owners and trainers of other candidates for that fixture, from Japan, the United States and Europe, will be watching closely and decisions will have to be made about travel and participation if the conflict continues.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Entries and declarations are still being processed for this week\u2019s racing fixtures in Dubai, Qatar and Bahrain. Business as usual in unusual circumstances is the general approach: deal with things as they happen, and the \u2018will it, won\u2019t it\u2019 will be decided by those far, far above the racing club pay grades.<\/p>\n
Dubai postponed Jebel Ali races on Sunday but the Emirates Racing Authority and Dubai Racing Club have Meydan races scheduled for Friday; Qatar has fixtures on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday; and Bahrain has its prestigious King\u2019s Cup meeting on Thursday and Friday.<\/p>\n
School classes have gone online, and sports and entertainment, including football and basketball leagues, have already been shut down temporarily in Qatar and Bahrain, but there is no word as yet about horse racing.<\/p>\n
Neil Callan rode in Bahrain last Friday and then boarded a flight home to England. The Bahrain General Command reported in the early hours of Sunday that its defences had downed 45 missiles and nine drones as Iran targeted the island state, striking the naval base where the U.S. Fifth Fleet is stationed, as well as residential properties in the capital, Manama. One death has been reported there.<\/p>\n
Callan is scheduled to return to Bahrain to ride at the two-day King\u2019s Cup meeting but as he speaks there are no flights in or out.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll have to see what happens the next couple of days, no one really knows, but the racecourse isn\u2019t close to Manama and it\u2019s away from those American targets,\u201d says Callan, who is scheduled to fly into Saudi Arabia and drive across the causeway to Bahrain.<\/p>\n
\u201cSaudi is the only place in the Gulf you can fly in or out of at the moment,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n
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NEIL CALLAN \/ Photo by HKJC<\/p>\n
Fawzi Nass, Bahrain\u2019s most high-profile trainer, is taking things as they come.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo far racing hasn\u2019t been cancelled, but there\u2019s talks about it,\u201d he says. \u201cIt all depends on what happens in the next couple of days. But I\u2019m not sure what the plans are, with the military involved. Horse racing, I don\u2019t know, maybe it will go ahead without many spectators.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nass says that the initial strikes were worrying but now he feels he and others have got used to the situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s different parts of Bahrain (to where the horses are), but even towards our area, you can see the missiles from a distance and the Patriots exploding them there, otherwise, we\u2019re far away, the racecourse: where I live is far from the town. The target is the navy at Juffair, and some buildings around it. Otherwise we\u2019re well away from harm, I hope.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was shocking when it first started,\u201d he adds, \u201cbut now we\u2019re desensitised.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was Monday afternoon. By 7pm, Bahrain\u2019s state media reported its air defence systems had intercepted a further 79 missiles and 59 drones.<\/p>\n
Qatar is in a similar position to Bahrain, racing is scheduled and the processes required for any race meeting are being carried out, but whether it will go ahead is not certain.<\/p>\n
When the Al Rayyan track had issues previously, fixtures were switched to Al Uqda racecourse, about 45 minutes out of the city, so that might be an option if needed and if allowed.<\/p>\n
But so far at least 20 people in Qatar have been injured in Iranian missile and drone attacks, which targeted infrastructure and the Al Udeid airbase near Doha.<\/p>\n
One source in Qatar has told Idol Horse that most people are staying inside and markets and malls are being kept open 24 hours to avoid panic-buying. Each morning at 8am the government has sent an alarm telling citizens not to go out other than for necessities, and to work from home.<\/p>\n
Back in Dubai, So is hopeful that his horse, Sing Dragon, will be able to take his scheduled flight out on March 6, and that he will be on his way back to Hong Kong around the same time, hopefully before.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had to register with the Chinese Embassy, just to be safe,\u201d he says, referring to the Hong Kong Jockey Club contingent that also includes mafoos and club staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first night we saw the missiles flying over, I saw them from the balcony, I saw the explosion, well, you don\u2019t know if it\u2019s the bomb or the defence system, but anyway, now it seems pretty safe here.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just have to wait now,\u201d he adds. \u201cWe just don\u2019t know when.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Monday evening had the beginning of an answer: a Dubai Airports statement saying flights would resume immediately, with Abu Dhabi opening up Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Horse racing\u2019s stranded should soon be on the move, but how much destruction, fear, death and sorrow there will be before this conflict is over is something no one knows. \u220e<\/p>\n
![\"Hayes](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/HayesDynasty-1-1024x683.jpg\")
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Adam Pengilly<\/p>\n
House Of Hayes: Legacy, Loss And The Rebirth Of A Racing Dynasty<\/p>\n
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