Racecourse Master plan

Courtesy of Dubai Racing Club / Sam D’Agostino 2007 Dubai World Cup Ceremony

It’s always been the big one in the racing world.

Six million U.S. dollars worth of prize money, enclosures full of designer frocks and veritable rivers of champagne have marked the Dubai World Cup horse race as the top event on the international racing calendar for several years.
Now plans are afoot, not only to extend that golden race day into a possible race week to rival Royal Ascot, but to develop Dubai’s very respectable Nad Al Sheba grounds into the world’s most luxurious race course.

The project, called Meydan, which translated from Arabic literally describes a meeting place where people come to “discuss, compete and achieve”, is worth several billion dollars (although the official sum has not been released).

The planners have incorporated state-of-the-art architecture and equine know-how into the glass-encased grandstands and new racetrack, which will enable the facility to be used 365 days of the year.

But the entire project is not just about watching the world’s most expensive horses thunder around a track, explains Frank Gabriel, the Chicago-born CEO of Dubai Racing Club. It’s also about creating a community around the U.A.E. racing culture.

When it is completed, he says, Meydan will accommodate 60,000 people within its luxury grandstands. But a further 43 million square feet of land is also being developed into a gigantic real estate project that will include shopping malls, hotels, villas and towers.

“It’s not really just a racecourse,” remarks Gabriel, when asked about the sheer scale of the Meydan initiative.

“The plan extends well beyond racing facilities to include real estate and an extension of the entire racing experience. There will be man-made canals leading from the Creek [a natural sea inlet that divides Dubai], a boathouse, trams that will all connect with the racecourse as well as cycle tracks and jogging paths.

“That part of Meydan is called Meydan City. It’s a commercial, residential, retail and hotel venue that is actually being developed as we construct the race grandstand and the racing facilities.
“There will be high-rise hotels, and 80-slip marina. We really think it’s going to be unique,” he adds.

New industry
What Maydan will mean in terms of the international racing fraternity is anyone’s guess. Dubai has a limited race season running from November to March as a result of the stifling summer heat and any form of official betting is outlawed. But Gabriel is upbeat about the prospects.

“Obviously we won’t be able to do racing all year round,” he says. “Our time is limited because of the weather. But we decided to develop the structure by looking at all aspects of entertainment outside of the racing.

“We have big events planned for down the road, both in racing and in other venues. We hope to use this facility 365 days a year for all kinds of other activities to keep up the generation of revenue and the generation of entertainment.”

The ambitious plans will also put Dubai ahead of many racing hubs around the world once the development is completed, adds Gabriel, who explains that he and his team extensively researched the Meydan project.

“We traveled around the world and looked at a lot of facilities in Japan and Hong Kong. We also went to Australia and to America and Europe. We studied all the good things and tried to learn from the bad things in terms of design. Then we incorporated all the aspects that were essential for the unique U.A.E. culture. Those elements were put together for the Meydan Grandstand.”

Frank Gabriel Jr., CEO of Dubai Racing Club

And he is confident that the international racing fraternity, particularly those from North America, will find Dubai an even bigger lure than it is already.

“American participation in Dubai racing right now is all tied to the World Cup. We hope to continue that strength and possibly even branch it out to the international racing carnival that we have in January and February in the lead up to the World Cup,” Gabriel confirms.

“If you look at the years of the World Cup and the participation of American trainers and the horses that participate, you’d be amazed at the numbers of people coming here for one day of racing, compared to all the other race tracks in the world,” he points out.

“There are places they could travel to in a car, and they don’t go. But last year we had 19 American horses compete in the World Cup. That only happens on a one-day event which is a Breeder’s Cup champion day, so I think if you want to look at the current participation, it’s still strong and it will continue to be so.”

Gabriel is also keen to point out that despite Dubai’s geographical position; it is no longer considered a country under threat from current strife within the region.

“People know Dubai. They know it’s a safe city and the UAE is a safe country. It’s a good environment, it offers plenty of enjoyable entertainment, has great hospitality and great purses. It’s a big value destination for them to visit and try to win.”

And, to top it all off, architects are working hard to ensure that the Meydan development is as environmentally sustainable as possible – although the main grandstand itself will have parking capacity for approximately 10,000 vehicles.

“We’re looking at all the alternatives – that has been taken into consideration,” Gabriel confirms, adding that the transport infrastructure within the Meydan City project, is designed to reduce pollution. “It will be enhanced with clean and healthy transport options, and we’re going to make sure it looks very green too,” he laughs.