War chaos hits Sydney carnival as UK raiders stranded

The international raiders for the Sydney autumn carnival are stuck in England after war broke out in the Middle East, throwing flight schedules into chaos.

William Haggas’s Dubai Honour and Caviar Heights, along with Barnavana and Seo Linn, which will join the Chris Waller, were scheduled to arrive in Sydney on Tuesday.

However, the flight, like 100s of others, was cancelled.

Australian Turf Club general manager of racing, Nevesh Ramdhani, said the flight path must be rerouted to avoid the war zone.

He is hopeful that a flight can be organised to have the horses here by the end of the week, which is a crucial date.

Haggas wants to run Caviar Heights in the Manion Cup or Ranvet Stakes on Golden Slipper day, both races the Newmarket trainer has won before.

If the horses don’t arrive by Saturday, they will not have completed the two-week quarantine period before Golden Slipper day.

“We had the flight organised for early in the week to give us some time if it was delayed,” Ramdhani said. “We are waiting to hear from Cathay Pacific about different flight paths, and they might be able to leave.

“It is a situation that is affecting a lot of travellers, and we just have to wait and see what happens.”

Seasoned traveller Dubai Honour is not scheduled to run until the Tancred Stakes, where he defends his title, on March 28. He will be looking for a fourth Australian Group 1 victory after winning the Ranvet-Queen Elizabeth Stakes double in 2023.