Dubai Racing Carnival Sets International Record With Winners From Five Countries

The numbers don't lie: the 2025-26 Dubai Racing Carnival was the most internationally competitive in its two-decade-plus history, and Erwan Charpy, Dubai Racing Club's head of department for racing operations and international relations, wasn't shy about saying so. "This has been by far the most international Dubai Racing Carnival with the largest number of horses as well as trainers," Charpy said.

Horses trained in the United Kingdom, Denmark, France and Oman combined for 22 overseas winners across 16 race meetings at Meydan Racecourse, with the official count of winners spanning five different countries representing a record for an event that began 22 years ago. The press release named four trainer nations responsible for those 22 victories, leaving the identity of the fifth country unspecified. Dubai Racing Club welcomed 47 international trainers drawn from 10 nations including Sweden, Norway, Czechia, Spain, Hong Kong and Ireland, and 130 overseas-trained horses took to the track, accounting for more than 20 percent of all runners.

The scale of individual achievement was just as striking. UK-based South African trainer Dylan Cunha posted two winners, matching the tally of Newmarket-based Richard Spencer. France's contribution came with characteristic flair: Nicolas Caullery, a familiar face at the Carnival, won the One Thousand Guineas with Piana.

Denmark's best moment arrived on January 30 in a concentrated burst. Søren Jensen trained Taifuu to victory in the Mawj Stakes, and Bent Olsen's Great Wish followed up in the Listed Dubai Sprint on the same afternoon. The performance earned Great Wish an invitation to the Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint at the Dubai World Cup meeting on March 28, giving the Danes a legitimate shot at the sport's highest level in the UAE.

The operational side held up as well. Charpy credited John Nicholls and the teams at Dubai International Stables and Dubai World Cup Quarantine for maintaining smooth logistics throughout, noting that quarantine facilities ran at full capacity while the meeting still managed an average of 12 runners per race across the full Carnival.

The buildup to World Cup day on March 28 adds another layer to an already-loaded meeting. More horses from Japan, the UK, France and the United States were expected to arrive at Meydan in the days following the Carnival's conclusion. Karl Burke has Holloway Boy, a Group 1 Jebel Hatta third, slated as part of a five-strong team. David O'Meara brings back Epic Poet, who finished third in the Group 2 Dubai Gold Cup. Charles Hills has high-class sprinter Mitbaahy accepted, and 2024 Group 1 Lockinge Stakes winner Audience is set to make a second Dubai appearance. The 30th Dubai World Cup day, with the full weight of that international roster behind it, will serve as the Carnival's final statement.