Several members of the Irish racing community were in Dubai last weekend for the Emirates Super Saturday when the attacks began on the Gulf region
10:02, 03 Mar 2026Updated 10:03, 03 Mar 2026
Colin Keane on Crystal Black (Image: ©INPHO/Tom Maher)
The crisis in the Middle East has put the Cheltenham Festival plans of one leading Irish jockey in doubt.
Several members of the racing community were in Dubai last weekend for the Emirates Super Saturday, which took place at Meydan Racecourse.
They had hoped to return home on Sunday but the US and Israel’s joint attack on Iran on Saturday afternoon and the subsequent missile retaliation on Dubai and other regions of the Gulf, has meant that all commercial flights to and from the region are cancelled.
Six-time champion Irish flat jockey Colin Keane is among the racing contingent currently grounded in Dubai that includes fellow top riders Ryan Moore and Oisin Murphy and Irish-based trainer Johnny Murtagh.
Keane will now hope that flights will resume out of Dubai soon as he’s planning to partner the Noel Meade-trained The Mourne Rambler in the Champion Bumper at Cheltenham next Wednesday.
He was in Dubai to partner his dad Gerry’s Crystal Black in the Group Two Singspiel Stakes, the eight-year-old finishing a disappointing eighth in a race won by Rebel’s Romance.
Keane only announced last week that he was taking the unusual decision to ride in the only flat race at the Cheltenham Festival, in a bid to emulate Jamie Spencer, who won the 2007 renewal on Pizarro when a flat jockey.
His father Gerry, who didn’t travel to Dubai, told the Meath Chronicle that Keane believed the rocket attacks on Dubai to be an earthquake at first.
“He thought it was an earthquake at first. A missile hit a hotel close to where he had been staying, so he moved out to Meydan, beside the racecourse, where it is safer, but he is concerned as to when he can get home.
“Luckily, we are able to keep in contact with him all the time, but it is very frightening. He could hear the loud explosions. We also have James Hyland out there, who went out with the horse.
“Colin was supposed to come back on Sunday, but the airport was closed. He travelled out on Tuesday. The horse flew out in January and is booked to come home on the 10th March. Hopefully by then things will be running normally.”
Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed, was present at the €2.5 million Super Saturday event and there are no real fears that the tensions in the middle east could lead to the €30 million Dubai World Cup being called off on March 28th.
Johnny Murtagh should be busy on the Curragh training his string for the imminent flat season at home, but he’s another stuck in Dubai, having saddled a runner on Saturday.
“Everybody from the racing community is here in Meydan, well, 90 per cent of those who came for Super Saturday. The place is packed with racing people, Irish, English, French, and we’re just holding tight,” he told the Irish Times.
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Johnny Murtagh Yard Visit, The Curragh, Kildare 31/8/2023
Johnny Murtagh does his final bit of preparation ahead of the Irish Champions Festival, Saturday September 9 at Leopardstown Racecourse and Sunday September 10 at the Curragh
Pictured is Johnny Murtagh
Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Tom Maher
“We don’t know how long we’re going to be stuck here. Airspace is all closed. People are saying it will open on Wednesday, but there’s loads of rumours, and we’re doing this, and doing that. We don’t know.
“There’s been no announcement from Dubai because they don’t probably know either. Stay inside, that’s basically what we’re told. I went down to the market there earlier to buy clothes and it’s quiet around the shopping centres. It seems a lot quieter than normal.
“There were explosions (during Saturday’s racing). You could see drones in the sky and explosions. Sheikh Mohammed turned up and I thought if he’s at the races it’s probably as safe as anywhere in Dubai. It just seemed to carry on as normal. It all doesn’t seem to be as big here as from what I’m hearing from people watching on TV at home.”
The Cheltenham Festival begins on Tuesday March 10th, while the Irish flat season begins on Sunday March 15th at the Curragh.
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