'We don’t know how long we’re going to be stuck here'... Meath horse racing stars Johnny Murtagh and Colin Keane caught up in Middle East crisis

Many of Meath's horse racing community were in Dubai when the bombing started on Saturday, having travelled over for the Emirates Super Saturday, which took place at the Meydan Racecourse.

Still waiting to hear when they can return home are well known Meath trainer and former champion jockey, Johnny Murtagh and Colin Keane, currently one of the world's leading jockeys.

They both competed in Saturday's racing in Meydan which took place as explosions were heard and seen in the sky over Dubai.

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“There were flares and bangs during the racing. You could see drones in the sky and explosions. Sheikh Mohammed turned up and I felt that if he feels it is safe , it must be. It just seemed to carry on as normal," Johnny Murtagh said.

He is staying in the Meydan Hotel which is some distance away from the city centre and is a lot quieter.

"Because we are so far out, it is considered very safe and the horses are in the stables here and they are fine.

"The hotel is full of racing people. We don’t know how long we’re going to be stuck here. The airport is closed, we don't know when there will be flights out, although there are loads of rumours.

"It has been quiet here the last few days. The last time I heard a bang was about 3.30 on Sunday.

"It doesn't seem to be as bad here as it looks on TV. I've just been watching the news and it seems pretty bad.

"There are a lot of aircraft overhead and we know they aren't commercial flights, becaue nobody is getting home yet."

Colin Keane had been relaxing by the pool in his hotel on Saturday when the place started shaking.

"He thought it was an earthquake at first," said his father, trainer, Gerry Keane who hadn't travelled to Dubai.

"A missile hit a hotel close to where he had been staying, so he moved out to Meydan, beside the racecourse, where it is safer, but he is concerned as to when he can get home.

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"Luckily, we are able to keep in contact with him all the time, but it is very frightening. He could hear the loud explosions. We also have James Hyland out there, who went out with the horse."

Colin was supposed to come back on Sunday, but the airport was closed. He travelled out on Tuesday. The horse flew out in January and is booked to come home on the 10th March. "Hopefully by then things will be running normally," said Gerry.

Aside from the threat of war, it was not a very successful outing for the Meath trainers and jockeys, Murtagh’s Alakazi, under jockey Ben Coen, ran fourth to Quddwah in the Group Two Singspiel Stakes, while Keane's Crystal Black fiished last in a Group Two contest.