China is to host a Dubai-sourced race meeting next month following yesterday's announcement by Meydan Group that the much-anticipated fixture at Chengdu will take place on April 6.
Meydan Group and its local partner, the Chengdu Municipal Government, had originally intended to stage the Chengdu meeting, with horses flown in from Dubai, prepared by Dubai-based trainers and ridden by Dubai-based jockeys, in October last year.
However, the partnership was unable to finalise the organisation of the meeting at the Jinma racecourse until now.
Yesterday's announcement stated that five races will be staged in all, with the featured events - the 2,200m Chengdu Dubai International Cup, and the 1,600m Wenjiang Meydan Classic - sponsored by Longines and run under the rules of Dubai's Emirates Racing Authority.
The Meydan Group press release stated that the horses involved will be returned to the United Arab Emirates afterwards, unlike the horses which competed at Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, last September.
That gives the Chengdu event the honour of being the first mainland race meeting to have horses entering as well as returning home, and undertaking international import and export quarantine procedures.
There is no betting proposed for the meeting, and yesterday's release did not spell out any prize-money schedule.
