Meydan betting with William Hill

Meydan is a spectacular racecourse development in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. The course stages top-class flat racing on turf and dirt between November and March.

The big Meydan betting race is the Dubai World Cup, which regained its place as the most valuable horse race in the world at $12 million in 2019.

Dubai World Cup betting dominates the world’s richest race day of the year. Famous winners include Cigar (1996), Dubai Millennium (2000) and California Chrome (2016).

William Hill promotions include the latest special offers, Meydan odds and ante-post prices.

Betting at Meydan – The Big Meetings

Meydan stages regular meetings from early November through to the end of March. The Dubai World Cup Carnival begins in January and continues across 10 Thursday meetings to early March.

There are more than 60 thoroughbred races and four races for pure-bred Arabians, attracting top-class racehorses from all over the world. The Carnival culminates in Super Saturday, which is the major trials day for Dubai World Cup night.

The highlight of the season for Meydan bets is Dubai World Cup night at the end of March. It’s the most valuable day’s racing anywhere in the world, with $35 million in prize money on offer in 2019.

There are Meydan odds available for a star-studded card featuring six Group 1 races and three Group 2 races.

Meydan Betting – The Big Races

The Dubai World Cup was created by Sheikh Mohammed in 1996 as the richest horse race in the world. It lost that honour in 2017 when The Pegasus World Cup offered a record purse of $12 million. The Pegasus divided its enormous prize money between turf and dirt races in 2019, enabling The Dubai World Cup to reclaim the richest race title.

There are always plenty of Meydan tips for The Dubai World Cup, a Group 1 race over 10f on dirt.

Dubai World Cup night also features the Group 1 Dubai Sheema Classic over 1m4f on turf. This was originally run as the Dubai Turf Classic in 1998, with victory going to Godolphin’s Stowaway. It adopted its current title two years later.

The Dubai Turf is for four-year-olds and upwards over 9f and was originally run as the Dubai Duty Free in 1996. The inaugural running was won by Key Of Luck on dirt, but it was switched to turf in 2000 and given Group 1 status in 2002.

Other popular Meydan betting races on Dubai World Cup Night include the Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint and The Dubai Golden Shaheen.

The Dubai Gold Cup was introduced in 2012 and His Highness The Aga Khan’s Vazirabad was a popular Meydan tip, reeling off a hat-trick of victories between 2016 and 2018.

The Group 2 UAE Derby provides qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby and takes place on the same night. Meydan also stages the UAE 1,000 Guineas and 2,000 Guineas in February and the UAE Oaks in late February or early March.

Meydan Betting Tips

One of the top Meydan tips is to follow jockey William Buick. He has maintained an excellent strike rate with the Godolphin horses. Christophe Soumillon and Connor Beasley also feature prominently in the Meydan winners’ statistics.

Godolphin trainers Charlie Appleby and Saeed bin Suroor regularly feature in Meydan tips. Appleby has done particularly well in recent seasons, an improvement that has been reflected by numerous big-race victories back in the UK.

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Meydan Course Characteristics

Meydan has a left-handed turf track of about 11f and there’s also a 9f dirt track. There are chutes for sprints and 10f races. The going inevitably tends to be on the fast side on turf.

There were issues raised with the new Tapeta surface in 2010, particularly from American trainers, and the reversion to a dirt track in 2015 was widely welcomed.

There’s significant kick-back and the track generally favours front-runners. You should also take the draw into account for your Meydan tips. There is a clear advantage in being drawn low to middle here on both turf and dirt.

Famous Meydan Races and Racehorses

Dubai World Cup betting was given a fantastic launch when American champion Cigar won the inaugural running in 1996. The following year Sheikh Mohammed won the race with Singspiel, trained in Newmarket by Sir Michael Stoute and ridden by Walter Swinburn.

The Sheikh fulfilled a racing dream when Dubai Millennium carried the blue silks of his Godolphin empire to victory in 2000. He won the race in a record time with Frankie Dettori in the saddle.

Japan won the race for the first time with Victoire Pisa in 2011.

Thunder Snow became the first horse to win back-to-back World Cups in 2018 and 2019. He provided Saeed bin Suroor with his ninth victory in the prestigious race. Other notable World Cup winners include Animal Kingdom (2013), California Chrome (2016) and Arrogate (2017).

Godolphin-owned horses dominate Meydan betting tips. Past winners of the Dubai Sheema Classic include Sulamani (2003), Rewilding (2011) and Jack Hobbs (2017). Old Persian’s victory in 2019 was a third successive Sheema Classic for Godolphin and their sixth in total.

French Champion Cirrus des Aigles was a popular Meydan bet in 2012, as was Aidan O’Brien’s St Nicholas Abbey the following season. Roger Varian’s Postponed set a record time for the Sheema Classic when winning impressively under Andrea Atzeni in 2016.

Thunder Snow won the UAE Derby in 2017, a record eighth win in the race for Godolphin. Aidan O’Brien saddled Mendelssohn to win the UAE Derby by 18 lengths in 2018, a victory that put him among the favourites for the Kentucky Derby.

Godolphin have also dominated the UAE 1,000 Guineas, 2,000 Guineas and Oaks. Winter Lightning was a 10th winner of the UAE 1,000 Guineas in the famous blue silks in 2018.

Estidaaf took their tally to eight in the UAE 2,000 Guineas when victorious in 2019. They have been even more dominant in the UAE Oaks, Divine Image recording victory number 11 in the same year.

Meydan Horse Racing History

Meydan was opened in 2010 following the redevelopment of Nad Al Sheba Racecourse. The project was estimated to have cost in the region of $1.25 billion and took almost three years to complete.

The racecourse occupies just one third of a lavish 200 million square foot complex.

The impressive development also features a horse racing museum and the world’s first trackside five-star hotel, as well as a nine-hole golf course. The enormous Grandstand is over one mile in length and can accommodate over 60,000 spectators, with panoramic views across the course.

Meydan Racecourse - How to get there

Meydan Racecourse is part of the Meydan City development in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

For racing fans travelling from the UK, there are flights from London Heathrow and Gatwick Airport to Dubai. There are also regional flights from Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester and Newcastle.

If travelling by road from Dubai, the racecourse is approximately seven miles from Downtown. Take the second interchange from the Sheikh Zayed Road and turn left on to Meydan Road.

The Meydan racecourse complex is clearly signposted. You can also reach the course by travelling on the metro, alighting at Business Bay Station and taking a short taxi ride to the track.