Carnival gives horsemen wider berth to compete

Dubai: Thursday will be a red letter day for Dubai Racing Club CEO Frank Gabriel Jr as it signals the start of the 7th Dubai International Racing Carnival.

Gabriel has been entrusted with the significant responsibility of developing the version into a major event and he talks about his journey to Gulf News.

Among the many topics covered during this exclusive interview were the logistical challenges that the Carnival faces, an appraisal of the Tapeta all-weather racing surface and his aspirations for the Dubai World Cup meeting. Exerpts:

Gulf News: It's been seven years since the Dubai International Racing Carnival was first held. Are you pleased with the progress it has made since then and what can racing fans look forward to at this year's event?

Frank Gabriel Jr: I think the feeling with everyone at the Dubai Racing Club and Meydan is that the success of the Carnival has been a great avenue to the World Cup.

I think one of the pleasures has been the elevation of races that we have experienced in the Carnival from Group 3s to 2s, and even on the World Cup night where the movement of the Al Quoz Sprint, which was the eighth race of the Carnival, is now sitting at Group 2 status and we are pushing hard for it to become a Group 1 and hopefully that's somewhere down the road.

There has been great success in that and I think what we are very proud of is that the opportunity that Super Thursday has now become that second stage for the world and we are getting a lot of participants using that Super Thursday as a stepping stone to the World Cup which what the design was about.

In what ways does the Carnival boost UAE racing? How much of a hassle is it to bring all these international horses to the Emirates given the stringent quarantine rules?

I don't think it's a hassle, its part of our job. When you want to develop a programme on the world stage of having 16 countries compete you've got to be prepared to handle those quarantine protocols from different countries, the training, the scheduling. That's the success that you hope can be accomplished. But it takes a lot of work, takes a lot of good people to make it happen. 

Racing is perceived to be an insular and dated sport so how difficult has it been for it to attract new audiences while other sports are constantly modernising?

I think in general thoroughbred racing around the world is a challenge. We do have a challenge, there is no denying that. Our challenge is that our greatest athlete is a horse that doesn't speak, but he does speak on the track.

So we have use the people that help get the horse to the track — the owners and breeders who support the sport with time and money and the trainer who puts in a whole effort with his team to get his horse ready to race.

And the jockey who risks his life and rides to the best of his ability on courses aro und the world. That's a whole team effort that the sport depends on. 

Has the switch from dirt to the all-weather surface ensured that Meydan racecourse has become a much more level playing field? What has been the feedback from horsemen around the world?

I think the Tapeta has done exceptionally well. The feedback from horsemen and jockeys is that it's consistent and safe.

It has its maintenance issues and you have to deal with the weather and the track does get affected by weather. But you have to make those adjustments with the fluctuation of the temperatures that we have in the UAE.

But overall it is a safe and competitive surface and you will find that horses are up closer in the race and actually finish a lot closer compared to the dirt. But what probably is the most positive thing about the Tapeta is that it gives you some turf form and gives more opportunities for the horses that come here for us. 

You have brought a more proactive and coordinated group approach to managing the DRC. Has it helped maximise its contribution to the development of horse racing in the UAE.

Maybe it's the way I was brought it. But I like to talk to people, I'm not an e-mail person, I'm just from the old school where we try to communicate a lot more.

And I try to treat people the way I want to be treated. It's a great environment and we have a lot of great people working for us. 

Has the Carnival been able to fulfil its commercial potential?

I think it still has room to do that. We always have room to grow in all areas and I think with the new facility at Meydan we are still young. It's getting some character but we need to build on that character. 

Big question, will you be looking to expand the Dubai World Cup meeting to two days?

Well, to be honest we thought about that two-day meeting. The Breeders' Cup went to two days. We get all these people coming from around the world to come here for just one day and we thought it would be nice to give them a little more. We sat back and thought about it and in the end came to the conclusion that we shouldn't rush to it. Honestly at this point of time the one day is the best way to go. We've got a good eight-race programme and we like to keep it that way. 

Perhaps in the future?

I think it's always out there to be discussed but at this point I think the very the power of the one day is something that you cannot change. Consolidation is sometimes the best measure of success.