Dubai World Cup: First Time Attendee Guide

Attending the Dubai World Cup is an experience like no other. Hosted at the iconic Meydan Racecourse, the event promises an action-packed day of thrilling races, fashion statements, and over the top celebrations. In this blog post, we’ll provide an attendee guide to ensure your first Dubai World Cup experience is nothing short of spectacular.

The Basics

• The Dubai World Cup event is a one day racing event that takes place annually in March.
• The day of racing is one of the richest in the sport with over $30.5M in prize money in 2023. These prestigious races attract world-class equine talent from around the globe.
• The event is located at Meydan Racecourse which is a state-of-the-art facility located within the city of Dubai. Taxi or ride-share services provide easy access to the location. When the day is over, there are queues for taxis and ride-share services which we found to be efficient and well organized. Check out our Dubai Transportation Guide for more information about taxis and ride-share services in the city.

Tickets

There are a wide variety of tickets available for Dubai World Cup offering different levels of services and views.

Standard Entry

• General Public: These inexpensive and easily accessible tickets offer visitors great views from an outdoor grandstand and apron area. The Dubai World Cup is focused on bringing great horse racing to the locals, many who choose this option for attending a day at the races. There is access to purchase food and drink from various concession areas.
• Apron Views: For those looking to elevate their General Public ticket, the Apron Views option gives additional access to location of the track that hosts the Style Stakes fashion contest along with additional entertainment and food & drink choices.

Premium Tickets

There are many different premium level tickets to choose from. These all offer food and drink packages along with specific seating sections outside of the general grandstand area. View all the Dubai World Cup premium ticket options. These tickets include access to the general admission and Apron Views areas so that you can explore the various sections of the track.

We opted to go with The Premium – Level 1 tickets. This section worked well for us as we wanted outdoor seating with great views of the track. The seating area that came with this ticket wasn’t crowded and provided elevated views right at the finish line. The ticket also came with all-inclusive food and drink which included a large buffet and a wide variety of drink options. The Premium – Level 1 tickets are approximately $400/person. Given the included food and drink (especially considering drink prices in Dubai) along with great seating location, we were very pleased with this price.

Fashion

A key part of the Dubai World Cup festivities is fashion. Most attendees at the track choose to wear traditional national dress or typical race day styles. Women’s dresses should fall just above the knee or longer to adhere to the modest dress code. Hats and Fascinators are a big part of the race day fashion at the Dubai World Cup with some amazing creations making their way to the track.

For those looking to walk the runway and compete for a variety of prizes, the Style Stakes offers a fun way to get involved. Contestants sign up near the main track entrances to receive their number, and then make their way to the Apron Views area to compete at the designated times. Style Stakes categories include:

• Best Dressed Lady
• Best Dressed Man
• Best Dressed Couple
• Best Hat
• Most Creative Hat

Post-Race Celebration

After an exciting day of races, make sure to stay at the track for an incredible celebration to close out the Dubai World Cup. This celebration changes from year to year, but typically includes music and an extravagant firework display. An amazing drone show lit up the sky on our visit in 2023. The Emiratis certainly know how to put on a spectacular show!

We hope this Dubai World Cup first time attendee guide helps you prepare for a great day at the races. This is definitely a bucket list item for horse racing fans! Check out our horse racing blog posts for more tips and inspiration.