The Dubai Racing Club has announced a change in distance of the Al Quoz Sprint (UAE-II) from six furlongs (1,200 meters) to five furlongs (1,000 meters) on turf.
The Al Quoz Sprint was moved to the Dubai World Cup card for the first time in 2010 and was contested over the all-weather track at Meydan Racecourse. But with the established Dubai Golden Shaheen (UAE-I) also on the card over 1,200 meters, the Dubai Racing Club decided to amend the distance of the turf sprint, according to a release.
"As we saw with the move to the all weather surface, a number of the world’s best turf sprinters opted to run in the Dubai Golden Shaheen and rather than have the two races compete for the same runners we decided to bring the Al Quoz Sprint on turf back to 1,000m," Frank Gabriel, CEO of the Dubai Racing Club, said in a statement. "World racing has several top class sprint races over 1,000 meters and we are confident that the Al Quoz Sprint will join them now that it is over that distance."
The 2011 Dubai International Racing Carnival will begin with the traditional hosting of the opening round of the Al Maktoum Challenge on Thursday Jan. 13 and go through until the Dubai World Cup meeting on Saturday March 26.