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The meeting most Bears will be able to get to is on Thursday the 16th at the Nad Al Sheba Racecourse. Nad Al Sheba is the UAE's flagship track and is run by the Emirates Racing Association. Generally it is considered to be on par with set piece courses such as Epsom, Churchill Downs and Sha Tin offering first class facilities to race goers.
It is located to the south east of the city center, approximately 20 mins from the airport and 10 mins from the Jumeirah Beach area where most of the major hotel resorts are based. Taxis are readily available at all of the hotels.
General admission to the racecourse is free, but there are a variety of hospitality options.
The meeting on Thursday 16th January 2003 includes a feature race - The Bani Yas, a group 2 race with a purse of 200,000 AED. It is a race open to 5 year old horses and older and is a Purebred Arabian race. Also on that night there will be 2 prep races taking place:
The UAE 2000 Guineas Prep (Thoroughbreds)
The Al Rashidiya Prep (Thoroughbreds)
There are a total of 6 races planned for this evening.
If you are going for a little longer there are two other meetings on Sunday the 12th and the 19th at the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club.
Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club is located in the Embassy district, 5 mins from the city center and close to Al Mushrif Palace.
The club was originally founded as a riding club by The President, His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan in 1976. The grass surfaced race track was laid down in 1980 with open racing starting in 1991. Facilities include a state of the art 5000 seater grandstand including hospitality boxes and VIP suites.
The dress code for the public areas is smart casual and for the VIP areas is formal. There are usually 6 races per meeting, 30 mins apart.
Racing commences at 6pm except in Ramadan when racing starts at 9pm.
The details are as follows for Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club:
Sunday January 12th 2003
There will be a total of 6 races - including a listed race - The HH The President Cup which is open to thoroughbreds and has a purse of 200,000 AED
Sunday January 19th 2003
Again there will be 6 races and the programme will include a feature race (Group 3) open to 4 year old arabians and with a purse of 150,000 AED.
For details check out www.emiratesracing.com