Dubai World Cup Added to Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series

Also joining the Challenge Series schedule are the $2 million Dubai Golden Shaheen (G1), a qualifier for the $2 million Cygames Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1); the $6 million Dubai Sheema Classic (G1), a qualifier for the $5 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1); and the $5 million Dubai Turf (G1), a qualifier for the $2 million FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1).

Horses from around the globe will qualify through the Win and You’re In program, now in its 19th year, for the 42nd running of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships. Consisting of 14 Grade 1 races run during a two-day festival worth more than $34 million in purses and awards, the 2025 Breeders’ Cup will be held Oct. 31-Nov. 1 at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif.

Included in the benefits of the arrangement between Breeders’ Cup Limited and the Dubai Racing Club, the winner of the 2025 Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic will receive an automatic starting position and free entry into the 2026 Dubai World Cup; the 2025 Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner will be given a complimentary starting berth with entry fees paid into next year’s Dubai Golden Shaheen; the 2025 Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf winner will take home an automatic starting spot with fees paid for the 2026 Dubai Sheema Classic; and this year’s Breeders’ Cup Mile winner will be given an automatic starting position and free entry into next year’s Dubai Turf.

“Breeders’ Cup Limited is very pleased to expand our international Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series with the addition of the Dubai World Cup, the Dubai Golden Shaheen, the Dubai Sheema Classic, and the Dubai Turf,” said Drew Fleming, President and CEO of Breeders’ Cup Limited. “This partnership with our friends at the Dubai Racing Club speaks to continued progress made toward the global unification of our great sport and rewards international contenders for competing at the highest level. We appreciate the spirit of collaboration and the shared pursuit of excellence that brought this opportunity about and look forward to welcoming four Breeders’ Cup Challenge winners from Meydan to Del Mar.”

“The Breeders’ Cup is one of the biggest and most important international meetings on the calendar,” commented Sheikh Rashed Bin Dalmook Bin Juma Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Racing Club. “We are delighted to enter into this partnership, allowing four winners from the Breeders’ Cup an automatic place at the Dubai World Cup meeting.

“We thank the Breeders’ Cup team also for expanding their Challenge Series, which means we will see four winners from Dubai World Cup night compete in America.

“As racing becomes more global, this kind of partnership can only benefit owners and trainers and raise the bar higher when it comes to international competition.”

Dubai Racing Club (DRC) organises and hosts horseracing at Meydan Racecourse, from November through to April, including the Dubai Racing Carnival and the Dubai World Cup – known as the world’s most spectacular race day.

Today, the Dubai World Cup is the highlight of Dubai’s sporting and social calendar and attracts the best horses and riders from all over the world, with a total prize money of US$ 30.5 million for the showcase of nine races, including US$ 12 million at stake in the title contest. In 2025, the Dubai World Cup will take place on Saturday, 5 April.

Breeders’ Cup Limited administers the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Thoroughbred racing’s year-end Championships, as well as the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In, which provides automatic starting positions into the Championships races through partnerships with host countries around the globe, and the U.S.-based Dirt Dozen Bonus Series. The Breeders’ Cup operates under the national, uniform rules and regulations of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) and its Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU).