The shrill ring of a machine being applied on steel and other building material ensures that the architecture inside the Meydan Hotel is developing shape and form.
The construction, which is almost complete barring a few nuts and bolts being slotted into pre-planned slots, is contemporary and cutting edge.
Sunlight streaks into every available corner of the hotel lobby spilling over from the spacious veranda and lush green racetrack outside that is the key piece of a futuristic racetrack. It appears that light and design will be locked in a perpetual game of superiority in this hotel lobby which is just one important element of a long story that has just completed its first chapter.
The story is titled Meydan, meaning ‘the meeting place'. Once complete, Meydan will underscore the fact that horse racing has a new address and zip code.
An important element of Meydan the race track set for competition will be officially unveiled to the racing community when the curtain goes up for the Dubai International Carnival today.
Two days before the carnival one could distinctly feel a lift in energy and tempo. It is as if the whole project has been boxed into the starting stalls and is set to explode upon the world when the gates open.
But Saeed Humaid Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Meydan, is no stranger to this feeling.
Al Tayer's appearance is calm and content. A smile plays along his lips like that of a man who has just discovered an extra gear in his Ferrari. The CEO has encountered many pressure-cooker situations. Life at the very top as a three-time world champion in the high-octane world of powerboat racing has fortified his senses in the face of contest.
Full of energy
"We've been feeling the energy from the day we launched the project," he said in an interview to Gulf News. "We embarked on this project way back in 2007. It was the brainchild of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. We have been maintaining this level of excitement since then.
"We have reached a stage where real racing will begin at the racecourse. Today will be a memorable day for us. Obviously we want to see it through the Carnival and then to the World Cup."
According to Al Tayer the homework has been done and subsequent revisions have been carried out on this very important exercise.
"The race facilities have been ready for quite sometime," he said. "We have done the trials and we are happy with them. We have also learnt a lot from the trials. The size of this project makes me and my team members learn more and more about these wonderful facilities for the horse connections, owners and the racegoers. It is a lifestyle for the community as well, not just on a local and regional scale but global as well."
This process of learning has been coupled with one of the great accomplishments. The unveiling of Meydan today will ensure that the world will once again stop to blink at Dubai's spirit of enterprise and resoluteness. Al Tayer himself personifies this as the steel and character rings out in his voice.
"With the introduction of Meydan the future of racing will be cemented further. The history of horse racing goes back hundreds of years be it in North America, across the globe and all the way to Australia. This project is a landmark in every sense and scale not just for racing but for the country itself for the UAE and specifically for Dubai. It will send a strong message about racing and about the community of this country to the industry."
Raising the bar
And while setting the bar notches higher than its competitors, Meydan has been charitable enough to adopt the best of what every important racing venue in the world has to offer. And in the end it could prove that in terms of scale and opportunity it cannot be topped.
"I think there are many courses that have their specific features. When we wanted to develop this project, besides His Highnesses' vision, we wanted to benchmark ourselves along with the other facilities in the world. Our team members and board travelled to assess other facilities. Meydan is unique and yet it has contributions from every corner of racing in the world," stated Al Tayer.
"We spoke with people from Tokyo, Ascot, North American courses and Australia," he added. "We benchmarked with them and they gave us valuable feedback of their wish list. We coupled that with our experience here when it comes to projects and providing extra features to it. To put it all together is a challenge. It has been a challenge to all our suppliers and contractors but also a joy because they stayed the course with us.
"But finally we have to benchmark Meydan I believe that it is second to none and will remain so for a long time to come."
Meydan may be yet another feather in Dubai's growing list of achievements, but the emirate has decided to share it with the racing community and the rest of the world. To give it a glimpse of what the future of racing could hold.
Al Tayer endorsed this by saying, "Meydan is a gift from Shaikh Mohammad to the world. It is a gift from this country to the world. It is a gift for horse racing and the community at large in every aspect. Its unique facilities ensure that the more you visit, explore and enjoy the more you want it.
"Meydan may be geared up for racing but it has facilities for conferences, exhibitions and for students from every level to come here and learn about racing itself. It has a beautiful museum an interactive one which will be introduced next year as an important package of this project. This museum is so versatile that it will also welcome tourists to learn more about the racing, the environment, the living species in the desert, the wildlife and everything that is unique to this area. It will be an educational experience."
The opening of the Dubai International Racing Carnival will ensure that at least one of the boxes has been ticked off for those involved in this mega project. The racing will commence tonight, climaxing on March 27, the big night of the Dubai World Cup meeting, while the vision for the future will begin to take shape concurrently.
"We have done a lot of studies across the board about this project functioning during and in the off season," offered Al Tayer. "We are attracting a lot of interest and I am sure within the next few weeks you will see how this project is moving forward by Dubai World Cup all the other components relating to the Grand Stand and the hotel will be one hundred per cent complete."
Al Tayer acknowledges there is a certain resonance that the world's richest race meeting (offering prize money in excess of $10 million, Dh36.7 million) is held in the most progressive racecourse ever.
"Look, when we announced this project in 2007 it gave us a lot of confidence to what this country has to offer. We want to attract the best of what is available year in and year out. And in order to attract the best you have to raise the prize money and the facilities to complement the racing. The spectators must come here to enjoy and this is what people will do. You can personally see the change in what you have seen before and what you are seeing now. Back then we had 55,000 people on World Cup night but did we have the facilities? Now the accountability rests on us to ensure that you get the best of what you deserve."
Leading by example
At a time when the world's attention is focused on Dubai, Meydan will confound the critics even more. The proceedings at the racetrack tonight will serve to send out the message that Dubai has resolve and resilience.
"I think the UAE in general and specifically Dubai have been the leaders in the field of construction and development and tourism industry. We lead by example," stated Al Tayer. "The current global scenario should be reviewed by us not as a crisis. The Asian countries view crisis in two words: opportunity and danger. The first word is more soothing. There are opportunities in such situations and we should view it as a challenge for all of us. I think this project is merely a statement that we are forging forward and life goes on."
In the future Meydan must bring home a return on investment. A project as mammoth as this must sustain itself, especially after the racing season draws to a close. Al Tayer assures that the blueprint for that is firmly in place.
"We have used experts in the field," he offered. "We have hired specialists who have viewed this enterprise both as a model and a clinic. The assessments that they have come up with are positive provided the commercial team delivers on the numbers. There are opportunities, we have so many exhibitions and conferences in the UAE and I believe that if we attract a small percentage then we could be in decent shape."
The journey for Al Tayer and his team for the past two years could be akin to being on a roller coaster: full throttle while negotiating unchartered twists and turns, but joyful nevertheless. Which is why he finds it difficult to pinpoint just one memorable moment.
Special day
"We work as a team and to have one component memorable or even a day is very hard. But I think it has been a joyful ride. The last 34 months have been exciting. We met so many people. We were met with so many challenges. Everyday is a special day at Meydan.
"I think when we introduced Meydan to the world in March 2007, it was a special day to see the positive reaction of those around us. When we officially inaugurate Meydan on March 27, on the day of the World Cup, it will be another memorable moment for us."
Al Tayer's spirit of enterprise and ambition to ensure that the world will congregate repeatedly at ‘the meeting place' is fuelled by the vision of none other than Shaikh Mohammad.
He was quick to confess that, "It is a challenge to know what he is thinking ahead. He gives you confidence and builds the courage of his team members to pursue projects of this magnitude. Hopefully, if you are fed that vision you can digest it and carry it with you. The level of energy is unique. There are various aspects about his wisdom, thinking and vision that I don't think any of us can tap into. Hopefully we can understand which direction he's going and where he's coming from and feed off it to ensure that the level of expectations are met. Always work harder… there is nofinish line."
