Meydan racecourse ready for 2010 season

The grandstand and racecourse are just the first of four areas to be developed under the Meydan banner.

The first phase of Dubai's ambitious horseracing village, Meydan, has been completed and the brand new grandstand and racecourse will welcome their first visitors on January 28, when the Dubai Racing Festival kicks off.

“We are extremely pleased to reveal the grandstand which is the world’s largest and longest ‘landscraper’ with a span of 1.6kms,” said communications director Mohammad Abdul Nasser Al Khayat.

“The grandstand has seating for 20,000 and a capacity for 60,000 spectators on race days. In total, our expected attendance during the 2010 season is 300,000.”

The grandstand consists of several interlocked elements with the new The Meydan hotel accounting for 33% of the development; 95% of the hotel’s rooms look out directly on to the course.

The central section of the grandstand – the main seating areas, corporate suites and the architecturally magnificent ‘bubble bar’ – are all covered by a 426m x 56m roof.

“On the upper side of the roof there are 8000 solar panels which generate 750kw contributing to Meydan being a truly green development,” said marketing and communications manager William Oburu.

“The underside is titanium, while 9000 tonnes of steel were used in its creation.”

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At the opposite end from the hotel, the grandstand runs into a marina which connects directly to Dubai Creek

“A lot of work has gone into the racecourse as well,” said Dubai Racing Club CEO Frank Gabriel Jr.

“Meydan now has a 2400m turf track and 1750 all-weather track created by specialists Tapeta Footings. The drainage is superb, it provides a great cushion for the horses with several layers and is topped by a layer of fibre, rubber, sand and wax.

“What’s extremely exciting is that the Dubai World Cup and Sheema Classic can now start and end right in front of the grandstand.”

Meydan chairman Saeed Al-Tayer confirmed that the cost for the grandstand alone had been around AED4.6bn while the whole facility – including the giant Falcon car park – had a cost closer to AED10bn.

The grandstand and racecourse at Meydan represent just one of four districts within the development and Al-Tayer claimed that ground had been broken elsewhere with infrastructure being put in place.