Well the news is flying fast and furious out of Dubai with today’s report confirming that Meydan, the world’s newest and surely most extravagant racing facility, will host its first night of live racing on January 28, 2010, kicking off the Dubai International Racing Carnival. The 60,000 seat facility, replete with IMAX theatre, racing museum, luxury hotel, and high-end dining establishments was first revealed to the world the day of the 2007 Dubai World Cup and construction began soon after.
Saeed Al Tayer, chairman of Meydan, announced today that racing facilities will open on October 31 to allow horsemen to familiarize themselves with the grounds and prepare horses for the late January debut. The 2010 Carnival is scheduled to conclude with Super Thursday on March 4, 2010 while the first Dubai World Cup at Meydan is set for March 27, 2010.
Click HERE for the full release as posted by the Dubai Racing Club Newswire.
Click HERE for a detailed story from The National’s Sarah Tregoning, which including comments from Mike De Kock and Ahmed Ajtebi.
The full schedule for the 2010 DIRC was not released, but one thought does emerge. If the Carnival opens on Thursday, January 28 and concludes on Thursday, March 4 – and it still were to run ten nights as has been the most recent expectation – racing is likely to be run on Thursday and Friday evenings throughout the entire month of February. In recent years, the Carnival spanned eight weeks with eight Thursday and two Friday meetings. The inaugural DIRC at Meydan is now likely to be a more compact one.
A previous declaration from Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Dubai, was that of a $10,000,000 purse for the Dubai World Cup upon the opening of Meydan. That monster prize was reaffirmed in today’s release, making the Dubai World Cup a runaway winner as the richest race in the world, no matter the currency of the purse distributed.
The fate of the Winter Racing Challenge remains publicly unknown. Traditionally preceding the International Racing Carnival, the WRC was a nine or ten night convocation of locally-based horses and connections. During the 2009 Dubai World Cup week, some familiar with the matter estimated that if Meydan were not ready for live racing in time for the WRC, traditionally started in early November, it is possible that the Jebel Ali Racecourse could host.
Regardless, the confirmation of dates for the Carnival and World Cup is thrilling…and of course, much more to come here on DubaiRaceNight.com.
7 Comments
How do I get tickets to the 2010 Dubai World Cup on March 27,2010? Please send me information as soon as you can.
Zenyatta should end her career with a start in this race! PLEASE MOSS & SHERIFFS! Do it!
meydan is a amazing place where people will come from around the world & they will enjoy it.
Will all facilities be ready in time for world cup.I have heard it is still a building site.Plaese let me know cost of corporate entertainment etc.and addmission charges.Thanks.
Do u know what date next years Dubai world cup is?
Not yet, Alan – it should be made public late spring 2010.
A new top-class racing facility in Meydan, many of the best thoroughbreds in the racing world, from all over the world. And most of all, the purses that Dubai offers owners for bringing all that talent is absolutely more than charitable. Being from the U.S., I can tell you, if an owner of a U.S. based horse goes to Dubai and has any kind of success at all, his or hers horse will win more money in one race at Meydan, than they likely would in three Grade 1 races at racetracks in the United States. I love, and look forward to the Dubai Racing Carnival every year. The only place in the world where you can take your horse, and both the horses and the owners are treated like royalty. Always a great show put on in Dubai!!
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[...] 12, 2009 by sidfernando Click here to read about the opening of Meydan and the Dubai World Cup from Pat Cummings’ Dubai Race [...]