Dubai:

Whoever knew the day would come when Meydan would switch to a conventional dirt track. Certainly not many of us who were there when the iconic racecourse was launched in March 2010.

The Dubai World Cup was created as a championship dirt race and had been staged on a natural dirt surface since its inception in 1996. But the announcement that it would be switched to a synthetic surface for its 15th running that year, sent shock-waves through the racing world.

It was a similar experience when we learned that the Tapeta would be replaced by a new surface for the 2014-2015 UAE Racing Season and that the Dubai World Cup once again become a dirt race.

In a way, Dubai racing has come full circle to its formative years and I’m sure everyone must be really excited about racing on the new surface.

The removal of the track’s Tapeta surface began soon after this year’s Dubai World Cup and the new dirt track is expected to be ready in time to host its first race meeting of the new season the following Thursday.

With the return to dirt Dubai racing will, I’m sure, recapture its original appeal and provide a fair playing field to all connections.

Top American racecourses at Santa Anita and Keeneland have toyed with both surfaces with both finally settling for a dirt surface.

Announcing the decision to revert to dirt Saeed Al Tayer, Chairman and CEO of the Meydan Group had said in an official statement: “This is a decision that will be best for the future of Meydan racing and the Dubai World Cup Carnival. In the coming year we will celebrate the 20th running of the Dubai World Cup and the track will be the natural surface that proved so successful during the first 14 years of this magnificent race day.

The word is out that the new track will be a next-generation surface. With new material and high-tech research we can expect a world-class dirt track to be unvieled next week, one that will ensure the utmost safety for horses and riders.

We are all aware that sport is not taken lightly in the UAE and Dubai where we have some of the best facitiles for sports like Formula One racing, golf, tennis and water sports and you can be sure that the new Meydan track will be right up there with the best surfaces in the world.

The racing landscape may have changed, for reasons better known by the administrators of the track, but the obligation was there to ensure that the surface will be attractive on an international level.

Unfortunately the Tapeta did not meet that requirement and was the subject of a lot of criticism. But to be fair, it enjoyed its moments and delivered exciting winners from France, Japan, USA and the UAE.

Glória de Campeão, Victoire Pisa, Animal Kingdom and African Story were horses that succeeded at the highest level and were a tribute to the synthetic surface.

But all that is history now as we welcome the future at Meydan in the form of a dirt track and will have the potential to interest horsemen around the world and make the Dubai World Cup Carnival even more competitive and attractive.