Dubai Racing Carnival 2026: Buick, Doyle, And De Sousa Light Up Meydan

The Dubai Racing Carnival wasted no time in finding its rhythm, delivering a vibrant, feel-good opening night at Meydan that mixed emerging stories and plenty of optimism for what lies ahead, not least the looming 30th anniversary Dubai World Cup meeting in three months' time.

At the sharp end, William Buick and James Doyle, not so long ago a formidable pairing with the powerhouse Godolphin operation, combined to win four races between them.

But this was far from a two-man show. Brazilian ace and reigning UAE Champion Silvestre De Sousa ensured he remained central to the Carnival narrative with two superbly judged victories. Meanwhile, there were breakthrough moments that gave the card real depth, ensuring smiles everywhere at Meydan and a sense that 2026 could be a special year.

Crisfords strike gold

The night's centrepiece, the Group 2 Zabeel Mile, went the way of Quddwah, who delivered trainer Simon and Ed Crisford a second consecutive success in the race and immediately sparked discussion about much bigger targets.

Ridden confidently by big-race jockey James Doyle, Quddwah travelled smoothly before asserting late, a performance that hinted at further upside.

“It was quite a sweet race to ride in. I had a load of space to go when I wanted, which was nice,” said Doyle, who was repeating his feat of 2020 on Godolphin's Zakouski.
“He's been very consistent over the years and gets his head in front when he needs to. It's been a while since I've ridden him. I won on him the first time, and we were quite sweet on him then, too.”

The obvious question is whether Quddwah could follow in the hoofprints of his dam Sajjhaa, winner of the 2013 Dubai Turf.

“It would be a notch up from the runners he faced tonight, with Japanese contenders and all that, but I'm sure he'd run his race,” Doyle added.

Trainer Ed Crisford was even more bullish, mindful of his father Simon's deep history with the Dubai Turf during his years as Godolphin's racing manager when the stable won the 1800 metre contest four years on the trot between 1997 and 2000.

“To win it the way he did was really pleasing. He's settled in nicely here and he has bigger and better things ahead hopefully,” said Crisford Jr.“We'll have to speak to Sheikh Ahmed (bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Chief of Dubai Police and Public Security) and the team and then decide how far we can go with him and and weather we'll look at the World Cup night.”

The Crisfords and Doyle later doubled up when Meydaan stayed on powerfully to land the closing Zoho Handicap over 2800 metres. Meydaan, who finished right in last year's Melbourne Cup, proved too strong for Burdett Road and Nightwalker.

“He's a very high-class horse,” said Doyle.“He didn't run badly in Australia but was a bit stretched [by the distance] in the Melbourne Cup. He showed his quality in the straight tonight.“The team will have a chat about what they'd like to do, but my inkling would be maybe come back in a trip to a mile and a half.”

De Sousa and El Nasseeb keep rolling

If consistency were currency, El Nasseeb would be rich. The sprinter followed up his Al Garhoud Stakes win with another late-striking display in the dirt feature, the Dubai Stakes (G3), giving Musabbeh Al Mheiri further reason to dream of World Cup night.

“I rode the race to repeat the form,” De Sousa.“He's a lovely horse, and once he switched leads, he really went for home.”

Al Mheiri, who famously won the 2016 Dubai Golden Shaheen with Muarrab, was cautiously optimistic.

“It's still early days, and we have to see how he comes out of the race. Sprints take a lot out of a horse, but they also keep them sharp,” he said.“But he's a nice, fast horse, so we would like to believe that's a possible target.”

De Sousa completed a double, having earlier ridden Lahfatyto win the Binghatti Handicap for Michael Costa, taking the Australian handler to just one win away from a landmark 100 UAE winners.

Breakthroughs and British success

One of the most heartwarming moments on a chilly evening came via Billy Loughnane, the former British champion apprentice, who rode his first Meydan winner when Two Tribes landed the ARN Handicap for Richard Spencer. Just three days earlier, Loughnane had broken Kieren Fallon's long-standing record with 222 winners in a calendar year.

“Two Tribes winning in Meydan tonight was great,” said the British handler whose horses have competed successfully in Britain, France, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and Hong Kong, as well.“Billy gave him a great ride, and it was his first run for a few months, so he is entitled to come on from that.
“There's a race in Saudi in February (G2 1351 Turf Sprint) that he's entered in... Hopefully we can have a lot of fun with him out here during the winter.”

Another British success followed when Ed Walker saddled his first UAE winner courtesy of Northern Champion, who showed real grit to deny the favourite Catullus in the Jumeirah Stakes under Kieran Shoemark, also celebrating a first Meydan victory.

“I thought William went three-quarters of a length up, but my lad is gutsy and showed a lot of determination,” said Shoemark, who was briefly a first jockey to the powerful John & Thady Gosden team in England.“I did know I won, but I was in a bit of disbelief as he did far too much early. He's a likable horse, and this is a good start to his winter campaign.”

Buick shines again

Despite being denied on a couple of occasions after winning the opening race, the Zabeel Turf (sponsored by Binghati) about Arabian Light, William Buick still enjoyed a productive double, notably steering the Bhupat Seemar-trained Six Speed to an authoritative success in the UAE 2000 Guineas Trial.

“He was superb, very professional, and he's very likable,” said Buick.“He has a lot of natural speed... when the split came, he was straight through and away.
“This is the Guineas Trial, and he's entitled now to go to the Guineas.”

With star jockeys firing and World Cup dreams already taking shape, the 2026 half of the Dubai Racing Carnival has begun exactly as it as it meant to, with quality, competition and plenty to look forward to in what promises to be a busy month's action at Meydan, home of UAE racing.

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