'Lots of uncertainty', says jockey stuck in Dubai

A jockey who is stuck in Dubai says there is a "lot of uncertainty" about when he will be able to fly home.

Kieran Shoemark from Hungerford, Berkshire is part of a group of jockeys in the United Arab Emirates for a race meeting.

He has been in Dubai for two months and was due to fly home on Sunday, the day after the US and Israel struck Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

He described seeing missiles and interceptors and hearing "quite a few bangs" but said the UAE authorities were doing an "incredible" job at reassuring the population.

Iran retaliated to the US and Israeli attacks with missile strikes across the Middle East.

Airspace in the region has been closed, meaning return travel to the UK has been difficult.

The jockey, who rode three winners at last year's Royal Ascot, told BBC Radio Berkshire he saw "clear signs" of missiles and interceptors going over Dubai while at Meydan Racecourse on Saturday.

He recalled the moment Dubai's leader, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, turned up at the racecourse on Saturday to watch one of his horses race.

"That was quite reassuring to see His Highness at the racecourse when it was all starting to kick off.

"I think everyone all of a sudden stopped panicking to some degree."

Shoemark praised the authorities for doing an "incredible job here making us feel safe and calm".

He said he was due to fly home on Sunday, but his flight was cancelled and he now thought Thursday would be the earliest he could fly home.

Meanwhile, Paul Page-Tickell, who was living in Sandhurst before he moved to Dubai last summer, has described the moment he heard a "rather loud boom" on Saturday.

"You're used to noises around here because there is construction work going on all the time, but this was a different boom," he said.

"It's a bit scary and it rattled the villa a little bit.

"It wasn't huge but clearly something had happened."

Page-Tickell, who works as a lawyer, described the situation as "surreal".

"You get these noises every now and then, you don't feel necessarily unsafe, although I'm only 1.8 miles away from the Fairmont Hotel that was hit and that's probably the one I heard."

His wife was due to join him on Saturday for a job interview on 12 March, which is now taking place online.

"The biggest impact is obviously family at home. My wife was due to join me Saturday morning and my nephew and his partner were coming on Friday. So those sort of things are more impactful than perhaps the reality."

He added: "I think my family are more worried than I am."

He said that it is "too early" to reassess his future in Dubai and that he has "no real plan" to leave yet.