Emirates Racing Authority

Sultan Al Hajri, assistant to Dubai-based trainer Mohammed Al Shamsi, has been banned for two years by Emirates Racing Authority stewards after administering what he said was sesame oil to a horse prior to a Meydan maiden race on Mar. 12. About 40 minutes prior to the race, Al Hajri was captured on video in the Meydan stable area administering a clear substance orally via syringe to Visual Effect (GB) that he claimed was water and a normal pre-race routine for a nervous horse. Moments later, Al Hajri was captured...

Trainer Khalifa Al Neyadi has been fined AED40,000 (€9,278/£7,894) after two runners in his care returned levels of arsenic above the permitted threshold in post-race tests in March. Both horses-White Sky (Ire), a Thoroughbred, and Jayide Al Boraq (MA), a Purebred Arabian-were disqualified from their placings in the races in question. While Al Neyadi denied that either horse had had any recent medication or treatment, he pled guilty to presenting the horses to race with elevated levels of arsenic in their systems. Al Neyadi exercised his right to have the...

Trainer Ismail Mohammed, who has stables in both Dubai and the UK, has been fined AED80,000 (€19,035/£17,138) after horses in his care in Dubai in eight incidences were found to be treated with shockwave therapy inside the seven clear day threshold. A veterinarian involved has been banned for six months. While Mohammed claimed to be unaware that the horses were receiving treatments at inappropriate times, he pled guilty and had a previously clear record in regards to shockwave therapy. Veterinarian Dr. Fred Van Der Linde testified that the medical records...

Four meetings in the UAE, barring Dubai World Cup night on Mar. 28, will be conducted without spectators, the Emirates Racing Authority announced on Tuesday. The ruling comes in accordance to public safety measures pertaining to the proliferation of COVID-19, also known as the coronavirus. The dates are as follows: Meydan, Mar. 12 Al Ain, Mar. 13 Abu Dhabi, Mar. 14 Jebel Ali, Mar. 20 All races will be contested and regulated in a standard fashion and results will be recorded in an official capacity. Only the horses' connections, racing...

Meydan's Super Saturday card on Mar. 7 will be staged without spectators, with the Emirates Racing Authority taking preventative action in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Thursday's Al Ain meeting was also held without spectators, and so will Friday's meeting at Jebel Ali and Sunday's meeting at Abu Dhabi. Super Saturday stages seven races intended as preps for the Dubai World Cup card on Mar. 28. Horse connections, sponsors and media will be the only persons permitted to attend.