Al Maktoum Classic

The Al Maktoum Classic, is a horse race run over a distance of 1,900 metres (approximately 1 mile, 1+1⁄2 furlongs) on dirt in February at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai. The event was previously known as Al Maktoum Challenge, Round 2 and it was the second of three races in the Al Maktoum Challenge series which serve as trial races for the Dubai World Cup.

Al Maktoum Classic

Group Two race
Location	Meydan Racecourse Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Inaugurated	1994
Race type	Thoroughbred - Flat racing
Sponsor	Longines Record (since 2022)
Race information
Distance	1,900 metres
Surface	Dirt
Track	Left-handed
Purse	US$600,000 (2024)

It was first run in 1994 on dirt at Nad Al Sheba Racecourse. It was transferred to Meydan in 2010 where it was run on the synthetic Tapeta Footings surface. In 2015 the synthetic surface at Meydan was replaced by a dirt track.^[1]

The race was originally run over 2,000 metres and was run over 2,400 metres in 1996 before the distance was reduced to 1,800 metres in 1997. The current distance was established when the race moved to Meydan in 2010.

The race began as an ungraded stakes race before attaining Listed status in 1996. The race was elevated to Group 3 level in 2002 and became a Group 2 event in 2012. In 2024 the event moved from Al Maktoum Challenge series and scheduled in March.^[2]

Records

Record time:

• 1:46.92 - Altibr (1999) (1800 metres)
• 1:55.67 - Prince Bishop (2014) (1900 metres)

Most successful horse (2 wins):

• Best of the Bests – 2001, 2002
• Jack Sullivan – 2005, 2006

Most wins by a jockey:

• 5 - Frankie Dettori (1996, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2009)

Most wins by a trainer:

• 12 - Saeed bin Suroor (1996, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2020)

Most wins by an owner:

• 10 - Godolphin Racing (1995, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2020)

Winners

Year	Winner	Age	Jockey	Trainer	Owner	Time
1994	Cezanne	5	Gary Hind	Hilal Ibrahim	Sheikh Mohammed	2:05.87
1995	Halling	4	John Carroll	Hilal Ibrahim	Godolphin	2:04.29
1996	Larrocha	4	Frankie Dettori	Saeed bin Suroor	Maktoum bin Mohammed Al Maktoum	2:30.75
1997	Tropicool	4	Brett Doyle	Dhruba Selvaratnam	Ahmed Al Maktoum	1:50.34
1998	Wathik	8	Paul Eddery	Paddy Rudkin	Saeed Al Ghandi	1:52.11
1999	Altibr	4	Richard Hills	Saeed bin Suroor	Hamdan Al Maktoum	1:46.92
2000	Get Away With It[a]	7	Peter Brette	Michael Stoute	Maktoum Al Maktoum	1:48.20
2001	Best of the Bests	4	Frankie Dettori	Saeed bin Suroor	Godolphin	1:47.85
2002	Best of the Bests	5	Frankie Dettori	Saeed bin Suroor	Godolphin	1:48.63
2003	Moon Ballad	4	Frankie Dettori	Saeed bin Suroor	Godolphin	1:47.98
2004	Victory Moon	4	Weichong Marwing	Mike de Kock	Mad Syndicate	1:49.51
2005	Jack Sullivan	5	Darryll Holland	Gerard Butler	International Carnival Partnership	1:50.55
2006	Jack Sullivan	6	Eddie Ahern	Gerard Butler	International Carnival Partnership	1:52.55
2007	Kandidate	5	Ryan Moore	Clive Brittain	A J Richards	1:49.40
2008	Lucky Find	4	Kevin Shea	Mike de Kock	Ahmed bin Moh'd bin Khalifa Al Maktoum	1:49:06
2009	My Indy	4	Frankie Dettori	Saeed bin Suroor	Godolphin	1:50.53
2010	Allybar	4	Ahmed Atjebi	Saeed bin Suroor	Godolphin	1:57.05
2011	Bold Silvano	4	Christophe Soumillon	Mike de Kock	Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum	1:57.71
2012	Mendip	5	Kieren Fallon	Saeed bin Suroor	Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum	1:56.42
2013	Hunter's Light	5	Silvestre de Sousa	Saeed bin Suroor	Godolphin	1:58.19
2014	Prince Bishop	7	Kieren Fallon	Saeed bin Suroor	Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum	1:55.67
2015	Frankyfourfingers	5	Mickael Barzalona	Salem bin Ghadayer	Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum	1:58.24
2016	Frosted	4	William Buick	Kiaran McLaughlin	Godolphin	1:56.67
2017	Furia Cruzada	5	Antonio Fresu	Erwan Charpy	Fernando Fantini	1:58.85
2018	Thunder Snow	4	Christophe Soumillon	Saeed bin Suroor	Godolphin	1:57.89
2019	North America	7	Richard Mullen	Satish Seemar	Ramzan Kadyrov	1:58.65
2020	Benbatl	6	Christophe Soumillon	Saeed bin Suroor	Godolphin	1:56.80
2021	Salute The Soldier	6	Adrie de Vries	Fawzi Abdulla Nass	Victorious	1:57.37
2022	Hot Rod Charlie	4	William Buick	Doug O'Neill	Roadrunner Racing, Boat Racing & William Strauss	1:57.41
2023	Algiers	6	James Doyle	Simon & Ed Crisford	Hamdan Sultan Ali Al Sabousi	1:56.08
2024	Military Law	9	Oscar Chavez	Musabbeh Al Mheiri	Naser Askar	1:58.07

^a Worldly Manner finished first in 2000 but was disqualified after failing a post-race drug test.

See also

• List of United Arab Emirates horse races

References

1. Peter Scargill (14 May 2014). "Dirt to replace Tapeta at Meydan for next season". Racing Post. Archived from the original on 18 May 2014.
2. "2023-2024 Dubai Racing Carnival Brouchure" (PDF). 2023. pp. 12–14. Retrieved 30 January 2024.

• Racing Post:
  • 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004
  • 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
  • 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023