“Getting home” can be a racing term used to denote a horse winning a race. The phrase has gathered deeper implications this week in Dubai. The Dubai media office, an arm of the Dubai government, announced Sunday that the Dubai World Cup card on March 28 was being called off because of the coronavirus pandemic. The announcement, which some speculated had come as a result of pressure from the United Arab Emirates government in Abu Dhabi, which holds sway over Dubai affairs, came as surprise to trainers and owners who had shipped horses internationally for the races as recently as Friday, when a handful of horses came from Europe. Ten horses left Florida on Tuesday and arrived in Dubai on Wednesday, and nearly 20 horses were shipped from Japan in the middle of last week. Quickly, the focus shifted from getting horses ready for $35 million worth of races on Saturday to getting home. Trainer Luis Carvajal, in Dubai with the sprinter Imperial Hint, who shipped after racing in Saudi Arabia on Feb. 29, said in a text message Sunday that Dubai racing officials told everyone who had traveled internationally with horses that they’d be booked on a flight out of Dubai within 48 hours. Carvajal and an employee were leaving to return to the U.S. on Monday morning, and by Monday evening Dubai time, nearly all the Americans who had traveled with horses had left Dubai. Emirates Airlines, the UAE-based mega-carrier, announced Sunday that it was suspending all passenger flights as of March 25 because of the pandemic. Doug O’Neill, who ran a string in Dubai during the World Cup Carnival in February and has 11 horses there now, said all five members of his staff were scheduled to land in Los Angeles on Monday afternoon. O’Neill emphasized that the Dubai racing infrastructure provided well-trained equine personnel to care for the horses in the absence of their American caretakers. “The horses are in excellent hands,” O’Neill said. There are 27 American horses in Dubai: O’Neill’s string, six horses that shipped from Saudi Arabia, and the 10 that flew last week. Returning horses to their home countries presents a greater challenge than getting humans back. American horses had been scheduled to fly to the U.S. on April 4. That timeline apparently has been greatly accelerated, but exactly when the Americans horses will ship remained uncertain Monday. Trainer Bill Mott, who was set to start Tacitus in the $12 million World Cup, said “possibly Wednesday,” when asked about shipping plans. O’Neill and trainer Peter Miller, who has five horses in Dubai, said they, too, had been told that a Wednesday shipment was possible, but as of Monday afternoon, shipping plans weren’t confirmed. “We’re working hard to return them to the countries of origin, and that is progressing,” said Henry Bullen. Bullen, reached Monday by phone, works for Janah, the international equine shipping company that oversees all Dubai World Cup horse transport. “It’s a changing beast even as we’re talking. We’ll get it together as quickly as possible.” Another shipping agent working on transport back to America, who declined to be identified by name, said one challenge Monday was obtaining landing rights from the U.S. government. Federal authorities in America and other countries surely are taking extra precautions in accepting international cargo. Horses from Japan are scheduled to leave Dubai on March 31 but transport could be arranged for flights as early as March 27. Concern for their staff and horses was at the front of owners’ and trainers’ minds following Sunday’s cancellation announcement, but there was disappointment, too, from horsemen looking forward to running live chances on this grand stage. Tacitus, for instance, had finished an encouraging fifth in the Saudi Cup over a one-turn 1 1/8 miles and appeared set to peak under more favorable circumstances – 1 ¼ miles around two turns – in the World Cup. “All he needed to do was move forward a length or so,” said Mott, who won the inaugural World Cup with Cigar. “It was going to be him and Mucho Gusto. This is the first time I had one over there and had a race under him, and he should have been acclimated.” New York-based trainer John Terranova was set to make his Dubai debut with Killybegs Captain in the $2.5 million Golden Shaheen. “Finally got a horse to go to Dubai and he had a real shot in the race,” he said. Now the focus turns to getting him back home. – additional reporting by David Grening