We would like to provide an update on the injury Eldar Eldarov sustained in the starting gates at Meydan on Saturday evening, and his current condition.

Eldar Eldarov sustained a complete, ventrally displaced fracture of the second cervical vertebrae in his neck. This was a significant injury which required stabilising surgery. Dr Barrie Grant, DVM, MS, DACVS, MRCVS flew in from California, and Dr Jonathan Anderson, BVM&S, MRCVS, DACVS flew in from the UK, and together they performed the surgery on Tuesday morning. We are pleased to say that the surgery went well, and Eldar Eldarov is now recovering in Dubai Equine Hospital. It was a complicated procedure, and his recovery is not without its challenges, but he is currently doing well.

We would like to express our thanks to both Dr Grant and Dr Anderson, along with Dr Sandra Valdez, DVM, DABVP, DACVS of the Dubai Equine Hospital. We would also like to thank Eldar Eldarov's owner Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa for his understanding of the situation, his commitment to the horse, and for insisting that every effort was made to give the horse the best chance possible. It would be wrong to say that Eldar Eldarov is out of the woods; he has a battle on his hands, but he has always been a fighter.