The 20th edition of the Dubai World Cup Carnival, which brings together horses, trainers and jockeys from all over the world, gets underway on Friday, 6 January.

An enhanced Carnival programme, with prizemoney totalling more than $7.5 million, will take place at Meydan Racecourse between January and March, culminating in ‘Super Saturday’ – the official dress rehearsal for the Dubai World Cup – on 4 March.

Established in 2004, the Carnival will feature several new races, including the $150,000 Thunder Snow Challenge, over 2000 metres on dirt. Another addition is the $150,000 Ipi Tombe Stakes, for fillies and mares on turf over 1,400 metres, which honours the Zimbabwe-bred mare who won the Dubai Duty Free tournament in 2003.

In total, there are 21 Group races for Thoroughbreds. Purebred Arabians have their share of the action, too, with a new race, the UAE Arabian Sprint Championship. The rest of the Arabian races have Group status, including three Group 1 legs of the Maktoum Challenge series.

The 2023 Carnival will also provide opportunities for handicappers, with 20 handicaps, divided between dirt and turf, complementing the pattern races and worth a minimum of $75,000 each. Meanwhile, the Jumeirah Turf Series for three-year-olds returns for a second season. Last year’s Jumeirah Derby winner, Nations Pride, went on to run in the G1 Cazoo Derby at Epsom in June.