The Mystique of Meydan Racecourse

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The Mystique of Meydan Racecourse

By Alfred Lee
The Orchard
October 20, 2020

60,000 capacity Meydan Racecourse is a horse racing facility located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It opened on March 27, 2010, replacing Nad Al Sheba Racecourse which formerly occupied the same site. It is able to accommodate over 60,000 spectators in a 1 mile long grandstand. When not used for races it will serve as a business and conference integrated facility. A horse racing museum and gallery are also planned. The development also includes an 9-hole golf course. The 7.5 million sq. m Meydan Racecourse includes Meydan Marina, The Meydan — the world's first 5-star trackside hotel with 285 rooms, 2 race tracks and the Grandstand, which comprises a hotel, restaurants, a racing museum and 72 corporate suites for entertaining throughout the year. It has a 2,400 metre left-handed turf race track and a left-handed 8.75-furlong (1,750 metres) Tapeta synthetic dirt course. It operates from November through March and features the Winter Racing Challenge, Dubai International Racing Carnival and the Dubai World Cup Night. The Dubai World Cup is the world's richest race day with over US$26.25 million in prize money.

The Racecourse district occupies 67 million square feet (620 ha), the overall Meydan City development however is 200 million square feet (1,900 ha). It is divided into four sub-districts: Meydan Racecourse, Meydan Metropolis, Meydan Horizons, and Meydan Godolphin Parks. Meydan is closely affiliated with Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum; UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai.

The Dubai World Cup (Arabic:كأس دبي العالمي) is a Thoroughbred horse race held annually since 1996 and contested at the Meydan Racecourse (Arabic:ميدان) which in Arabic suggests a place where people congregate and compete, a sort of meeting point in the Emirate of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The race is operated through the Emirates Racing Authority (ERA) whose Chairman is Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Presidential Affairs of the United Arab Emirates. It offers nine races, consisting of eight Thoroughbred contests and one Purebred Arabian contest.

The Dubai World Cup, the final race of Dubai World Cup night, was created in 1996 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai who owns Darley Stud & Godolphin Racing, one of the world's leading Thoroughbred breeding and racing operations.

Annually held on the last Saturday in March, the Dubai World Cup is part of the Dubai World Cup Night of races, and has carried a purse of USD ten million since 2010, making it the world's richest horse race. It is a Group 1 flat race on an all-weather surface known as Tapeta for Northern Hemisphere Thoroughbred four-year-olds & up and for Southern Hemisphere Thoroughbred three-year-olds & up run over a distance of 2,000 metres (about 10 furlongs) in late March.

The race's first winner was the future United States Hall of Fame Thoroughbred Cigar, owned by Allen E. Paulson. A plaque honoring that horse hangs outside the barn of Bill Mott at Belmont Park.

In 2006 the Dubai World Cup was broadcast live on TVG Network and HRTV and taped later for showing on ABC. It was the first time that the race was shown on national TV in the United States. In 2010, the Dubai World Cup was first held at the new Meydan Racecourse on March 27.