I am completing my second consecutive trip to Dubai to cover the world's richest day of horse racing and look longingly forward for my next.
This is a take on the sights and sounds of the week, 6,000 miles from home. The hospitality of the people in Dubai is overwhelming, the overall experience fabulous. Mission accomplished for all those who want the world's racing media to descend on Dubai, have a fabulous time, and share it with everyone else.
Dubai is a complex place. Historically, a major trading post, there is little history for this emirate, one of seven established under the flag of the United Arab Emirates. Dubai requires as much self-exploration and personal experience than any written word can do justice. Fine Iranian saffron merchants are next to the Omani frankincense bundles, just unloaded from dhows on Dubai Creek. The world's largest automated train/subway system is due to open in September 2009 with nearly 25 miles of track less than four years after it was announced. Glamorous developments rise alongside towering hotels while glimmering office buildings shadow a mosque or the camel racetrack in the distance. The banners advertising a new complex, Falcon City, proclaim: "The world in a city."
But a credential-wearer you need not be to enjoy Dubai, or the races. Tickets remain affordable - for flights, and the races. Competition is fierce with more and more hotels and restaurants in search of your business along with flights offered from all over. Just two weeks before the Dubai World Cup, a flight from New York with a four-hour layover in Amsterdam was running $987, which included taxes and fees which can often run up to 20 percent of the cost of some international fares.
With all of the money here, there is still an open market. Plan and reserve as early as possible, though. Dubai's hotel occupancy rates hover between 90 and 95 percent, highest in the world. Taxis are the easiest and the cheapest way to move around Dubai. Some are traditional taxis while some are private metered cars that are not in use with a limousine service at any one time. They are clean and regulated by the government. Dubai is congested but the average fare from most hotels to Nad al Sheba, for example, would average no more than 40 to 60 Dirhams (approximately $10-$16). The local currency is used everywhere and is pegged to the U.S. Dollar, making travel to Dubai significantly more affordable than Europe.
Dubai is a vision. The vision, of course, belongs to Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai and Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates. He carries the legacy of a family that has ruled the emirate, approximately the size of the state of Rhode Island. His brother, Sheikh Hamdan, the Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Finance Minister of the UAE, shares it and is at his side on many occasions. A new generation is emerging as well. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Sheikh Mohammed's son, was named recently as Crown Prince of Dubai, and at least by appearance, is prominent in his father's footprint.
Of course, it was horse racing that brought me to Dubai. If it isn't racing that brings people to Dubai, it could be one of the following: tax-free shopping, lavish resorts, major tennis, golf, cricket, or soccer matches, the beaches of the Arabian Gulf, or any of the thousands of business events and conventions held here every year.
Dubai Duty Free has become the largest of its kind throughout the world, registering 52,000 transactions a day and totaling sales of $880,000,000 in 2007, with a forecast to surpass $1 billion in 2008; all from people passing through an airport.
Nad al Sheba Race Course really isn't that imposing and is borderline ancient considering some of its neighbors. Any structure that is more than a decade old is just that, old. It isn't that imposing either. The initial phase of the facility, known as the Maktoum Grandstand, seats a few thousand while the newer Millennium Grandstand overlooks its diminutive neighbor with suites, restaurants, and more seating. Meydan is rising from the desert to replace Nad al Sheba and is progressing on schedule for racing to begin in 2010.
While the Dubai World Cup was technically "sold out" for 2008, a portion of the grounds is open to the public. The masses flock from all corners of the emirate, and perhaps beyond, to partake. The public enclosure requires no reserved ticket and no admission is collected at the gates. Come and go as you please - bring strollers, carpets, towels, coolers, and water. Some seats in the Maktoum Grandstand are reserved for the public with an additional set of temporary seat-backed bleachers, similar to those seen at some Breeders' Cups, holding more of the public around the first turn. This event is really the one time, all year, for the most well-off and the most well-intentioned to share the same venue and witness the same event.
Sheikh Mohammed is revered in the public enclosure. A poster-sized version of a magazine cover featuring Sheikh Mohammed, "Horse & Horseman," is handed out to those along the rails lining the public enclosure. One Pakistani fellow, locked himself into a corner spot and held the poster proudly for hours. I asked him why he was holding it.
"We love Sheikh Mohammed."
U.S. President George W. Bush visited Dubai earlier this year and was quoted in a government tourism newsletter detailing the trip. "You have succeeded in building a prosperous society out of the desert...I'm proud to stand in a nation where the people have an opportunity to build a better future for themselves and their families. The entrepreneurial spirit is strong, and equally important is the desire to make sure all aspects of society have hope and encouragement."
I spoke to merchants, in lavish shopping malls and the covered alleys of the various souks of the Deira neighborhood, and to oversimplify their position - love of Dubai and of Sheikh Mohammed, their opportunity, their freedom to operate business and be treated with respect, are universal. These were people I engaged in conversation, freely giving their opinion.
Back at Nad al Sheba, a path is carved through the grandstand's public enclosure to allow the media, racing officials, horse connections and others with credentials to move uninterrupted through the crowd. Otherwise, there are that many people to really wade through. On either side of the fence, the public, many wearing their national attire whether Pakistani, Sudanese, or any other local derivation, stands and watches you pass. For the hat-wearing women, some walking by themselves, the experience is initially unnerving, at least it was for one English woman I walked with. But as she progresses, she realizes there are no inappropriate comments, no whistles, nothing but people. Aside from a picket fence, similar to one you would see in the rolling hills of the farms around Lexington, Kentucky, they are in the same place, enjoying the same event.
There is one crowded press office, without a view of the racetrack, holding seats for approximately 140 people. In the mornings of the week leading up to the races and on race night itself, it buzzes. Monica Pinheiro, Lisa Jung, and their staff oversee the masses, dealing with a plethora of people and languages. I sat between an AP stringer based in Dubai who has spent a good deal of time in Iraq and a racing writer from Argentina's La Nacion Newspaper.
I was one of only about five Americans covering the races. Throughout the week, I shared stories, handicapping opinions, political discussions, unique desert parties, and several cocktails with reporters from the six inhabited continents. Australia's Peter Ellis had more faith than me in the Richard Dutrow entries and backed Diamond Stripes and Benny The Bull in his analysis. New Zealand's Wally O'Hearn hoped for the best from the Kiwi mare Seachange. A mass of unnamed Japanese reporters and photographers appreciated my warning that Vermilion was on the track Friday morning. Robert Garner from South Africa basked in the glow of his country's overwhelming success on the international stage. An Argentine and Uruguayan argued over who could properly claim Invasor's win from 2007. I playfully mediated a peaceful draw, citing Trevor Denman's bifurcated racecall from the Breeders' Cup Classic. Photographers from Hong Kong's South China Morning Post bemoaned the fact that John Moore trained Viva Pataca on an unreachable training course under near darkness at 6:00 A.M. every morning. It is a mélange of people and opinion based around a central topic.
For the racegoer, you can purchase a seat or hang in the International Village, home to a host of licensed vendors supplying most every need, liquid or otherwise. You can watch the races or party in the Bubble Lounge. This is the most premier event of the year. As a result, Sheikh Mohammed is aware that the event needs to keep pace with the growing pressure (and weakening dollar) of competition. The government of Qatar is sponsoring the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at €6,000,000 which will become the richest race in the world when run in October. In an interview with the BBC's Jim McGrath, Sheikh Mohammed confirmed the Dubai World Cup will continue to get bigger and better, with larger purses, especially when Meydan debuts in 2010.
It has been a marvelous time in a magical place. I look forward to having the opportunity again, hopefully sooner rather than later. In the meantime, start planning now for your trips to Dubai.
The world in a city.
Contact Pat Cummings at pcummings@racingdispatch.com.
