TRAINERS in Ireland will most surely be eyeing up the opportunities this year to race in the Middle East.

There is no shortage of chances, while easier access from leading European racing nations as opposed to the restrictions in place for British runners, will mean that many races will be even more enticing.

This week the programme for the Dubai Racing Carnival was announced, and one of the obvious carrots for owners and trainers is the 27% increase in prizemoney on offer. The UAE led the way in terms of the further globalisation of thoroughbred racing, but in more recent times it has faced increased competition from other countries in the region.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the obvious one, with the Saudi Cup and other major races. Qatar has also been building its profile, and is one of the biggest purchasers of horses in training at sales in Ireland and Britain. One of the more recent entrants to the expanding family has been Bahrain, and I particularly like the manner in which they have approached their involvement.

Rather than enter the race with enormous pots of money and taking on more established races directly, they have chosen to build slowly, and that strategy has been paying dividends. Their showcase race, the Bahrain International Trophy, started out with a prize fund that will now double to $1 million when it is run in November. The race has also upgraded to Group 2, thanks to recent winners such as Lord Glitters and Dubai Future.

The Bahrain Turf Club took on sponsorship of the Irish Champion Stakes too in an effort to raise its profile, while it has continued to develop a race series at what one could loosely call ground level.

Irish trainers have yet to embrace this part of their programme in any significant numbers, but it has proven to be lucrative for Jamie Osborne and David O’Meara.

Earlier this year they each won £25,000 after the conclusion of the second edition of the Bahrain Turf Series, which consisted of 10 races run between December and February. It saw 20 European horses compete against locally-trained horses for £600,000 in prizemoney and £50,000 in bonuses.

Of the total on offer, European-trained horses returned home with £303,800 after winning five of the 10 series races. These race values are set to rise for 2023-24.

Additionally, the winners of four races at Leopardstown in the newly-announced ‘Dublin to Bahrain’ initiative will gain automatic eligibility to compete in the Bahrain Turf Series. This is something worth checking out.