Dubai: Well it looks like we’re back to the future at Meydan this coming season, with the announcement that a time-honoured dirt track will replace the contentious Tapeta all-weather surface, that we have all come to love and hate.
It’s always sad to see anything go, but perhaps this will not be the case with this particular track that has had to withstand not just the ups and down of Dubai’s climate, but also a great deal of criticism from horsemen.
The racecourse’s configuration has not helped either, with its elliptical shape and quick turns resulting in a track bias.
To be honest, it did receive its fair share of praise, particularly from a gentleman named Kent Desormeaux who said it was “the best surface” he has ever ridden on.
The American Hall of Fame jockey even went on say: “On it all things are possible. Horses can go wire-to-wire and they can come from behind because there is no kick back which keeps the horses happy.”
The late Sir Henry Cecil thought differently and even warned that he would not enter horses in the Dubai World Cup if something was not done about the track bias against outside post positions for the all-weather race.
His argument was that in 2,000 metre races like the Dubai World Cup, the first turn came so quick, resulting in placing the horses drawn wide at an extreme disadvantage and did not present them with the opportunity to grab a good position.
Another strong barb was delivered by trainer Graham Motion who saddled Animal Kingdom to win the Meydan showpiece in 2013.
The Cambridgeshire native reportedly said he was concerned about the horse’s well-being after his substandard performance in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot, which he put down to the exertions on the Tapeta.
Well, enough of conjecture. Tapeta is now part of history, and we can prepare ourselves for some good old-fashioned racing on the new dirt track that will materialise at Meydan in five months time.
With a purse of $10 million (Dh36.7 million), the 2015 running of the Dubai World Cup will also become the world’s richest dirt race, knocking the Breeders’ Cup Classic off the number one slot it held with its kitty of $4.5 million. The $3 million Japan Dirt Cup will also fall back a notch to third place.
We will also see the return of big burly men sporting Stetsons and plaid shirts. We will also see horses that have competed at the Breeders’ Cup Thoroughbred Championships making their way to Nad Al Sheba’s Dubai World Cup Quarantine Centre. We will also see an increase in the number of South American-trained horses and even more attendees.
All this can’t be bad, can it?
So by the looks of things, the return of a major dirt surface to the UAE racing calendar, will recall the glory days of UAE racing, and bring us full circle to when it all started in March 1992 when Nad Al Sheba Racecourse staged it’s first race.
