Meydan today announced the launch of its revamped corporate website, www.meydan.ae. The improvements to the website were introduced to enhance organisational visibility internationally and facilitate focused and streamlined communication channels for Meydan City.

The website clearly positions Meydan as a dynamic location with an environment that presents a multitude of possibilities for business, entertainment and sports.

The new interactive flash multimedia interface with informational hotspots presents a visual and highly interactive walkthrough of the entire development. Serving as a comprehensive information source, the website also includes in-depth details on Meydan City’s individual districts – Meydan Racecourse, Meydan Metropolis, Meydan Horizons and Meydan Godolphin Parks. The website also serves as a gateway to the Dubai Racing Club (DRC), the Dubai Equestrian Club (DEC) and the Emirates Equestrian Centre (EEC) websites, which form part of Meydan City Corporation.

Enhanced navigation tools built into the website include quick access panels to each district, land sales, leasing, the racing season and conferences and events, as well as the latest news and media releases. Potential investors are given the chance to interact, give feedback and gain further insight into Meydan’s plans.

Detailed floor plans of Meydan Grandstand’s Corporate Suites can now also be viewed online, allowing clients to select and book a suite with ease. Information on other hospitality options and restaurants at Meydan Grandstand is also available.

A dedicated media centre also provides information on the latest news, with the option for media downloads of high resolution images. The Gallery showcases images of each distinct district, and videos of an overview of Meydan City, Meydan Grandstand’s construction time lapse sequence, the official launch of Meydan Grandstand and Racecourse and the 15th Dubai World Cup, a 3D walkthrough of Meydan Grandstand and Racecourse, and The Meydan hotel.

Mr. Mohammad A. Nasser Al Khayat, Commercial Director of Meydan, said of the Meydan website, “The improved meydan.ae website showcases the Meydan City development through a comprehensive and progressive information portal. As it is a phased project, it is important for us to communicate and showcase the on-going progress of Meydan City to our investors, partners and the international media and audience at large. As we continue to reach out to a wider client base worldwide, the website also serves as a complete primary reference point. As a technology adopter, it is vital that we use technology and the internet to its best advantage, and that Meydan is accurately showcased as an international brand representing a new, dynamic and progressive development with its myriad of offerings.”

With over fifteen years experience working in the international fashion industry, the Paris based event organizers, Kallista Fashions, will host their first business to business fashion fair, Fashion Times Dubai. As a region witnesses sustained growth in the fashion industry, Fashion Times Dubai is set to become a top business to business trade fair that brings together the fashion community from around the world.

The Meydan Grandstand.

International and regional designers are expected to exhibit at the event and buyers from the Middle East have also been invited to attend the much awaited event. Taking place at the prestigious Meydan Grandstand, Fashion Times Dubai is a three-day fair and will take place from 19th – 21st October.

Operating from the fashion capital Paris means that Kallista Fashions resides amongst the top designer labels and a continuous fashion buzz. Having extensive experience in fashion, Kallista Fashions founder Tariq Shan has been responsible for many fashion trade events and fashion showrooms and have played a prominent role in discovering emerging designer talent.

He was the co-founder of Zip Zone Paris which worked with many respected designers including Vivien Westwood, Alessandro dell’ Aqua and Preen and they were the pioneers of introducing the concept of fashion and art. Having hosted several fashion events in art galleries to showcase new collections and labels, they have set trends which has since become a highly successfully and widely used.

Fashion Times Dubai will be a platform to showcase women’s Spring/Summer 2011 collections, including shoes, bags, accessories, scarves and prêt-a-porter. Designers from around the world will be exhibiting their latest collections for top buyers from clothing boutiques to department stores from across the Middle East and Asia.

“Being the region’s hub, we believe Dubai is the perfect location to host Fashion Times event. As the dynamics within the fashion industry constantly changing, the city has embraced the movement and it is destined to make an imprint on the global fashion map. The global recession has affected the entire industry and we feel that through Fashion Times Dubai, buyers do not have to travel to the international exhibitions as they will be able to meet these designers right here. We aim to give designers a strong platform to introduce their work to buyers and to build business ties with them as well as allow buyers to enjoy a spectrum of designers from different markets” said Tariq Shan, Director, Kallista Fashions.

Kallista Fashions aims to make Fashion Times Dubai a regular seasonal event on the international fashion calendar as Dubai cements its position as a major player in the fashion industry. Meydan Grandstand with its five star amenities and unique location is the ideal venue and will facilitate the designers to promote their products in a business environment.

Fashion Times Dubai will be taking place at the Meydan Grandstand from 19th – 21st October 2010.

Calming Influence takes on some of the world’s top milers today when he makes his first start in Europe since November in the Group One Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Ahmad Ajtebi rides Calming Influence to victory in the Godolphin Mile at Meydan. Pawan Singh / The National

The five-year-old son of King’s Best gave Mahmood al Zarooni his first win when quickening well to land the Group Two Godolphin Mile on Tapeta at Meydan Racecourse but the Godolphin trainer knows he and his jockey Ahmed Atjebi face a tough task to repeat that victory today.

“Calming Influence is well and fit but it looks like it is a very tough renewal of the Queen Anne Stakes this year,” said al Zarooni.“He won nicely out in Dubai and he is in good form at the moment, but he hasn’t run since March and there might be a question mark over him running well over a straight mile – he loved the bends around Meydan.”

Calming Influence lines up against nine others in the Ascot dual, including Breeders’ Cup Mile heroine Goldikova, last year’s winner Paco Boy and Rip Van Winkle, who scored over a mile at Ascot in the Group One Queen Elizabeth II Stakes last year. However, Aidan O’Brien has voiced genuine concerns about Rip Van Winkle.

“Rip Van Winkle is in good form and we think that he has done really well from three to four and definitely gone the right way,” the trainer told The Racing Post. “But because he hasn’t had a run this year, we are genuinely worried about his fitness, as most of our horses usually come on a good bit from their first run.”
Godolphin has won the Queen Anne Stakes seven times, through Charnwood Forest (1996), Allied Forces (1997), Intikhab (1998), Cape Cross (1999), Dubai Destination (2003), Refuse To Bend (2004) and Ramonti (2007).

Learning the racehorse trainer’s art in the Emirates, Mahmood Al Zarooni impressed with his instinctive ability to straighten the kinks in the most wayward of thoroughbreds.

Meydan City

That understanding has served him well when dealing with demanding owners during his fledgling career.

But, with a victory from his first runner as Godolphin’s new trainer – at Meydan on Dubai World Cup night – a third in the Derby and a head defeat in the Irish 1,000 Guineas, it isn’t one he’s been called on to practise on his new boss, Sheikh Mohammed.

“I’ve been working in stables before and I know – everybody knows – how some owners are not easy to deal with,” explains the 33-year-old, “but His Highness is amazing – you would not believe it.”

As assistant to Saeed bin Suroor, Al Zarooni was preparing Godolphin’s horses for the Dubai World Cup fixture when the sheikh arrived at the Al Quoz stables unannounced.

“He told me to jump in the car,” recalls Al Zarooni, who served time with Rod Simpson, Ali Al Raihe and Mubarak bin Shafya before joining Godolphin.

“He was silent, then he told me he had decided to give me a licence. It was sudden and my brain couldn’t take it in.

“At the time I didn’t know how to thank him – it was a shock for me.”

Working on the basis that actions speak louder than words, Al Zarooni forgot about the verbals and focussed on the task of repaying the Sheikh’s faith.

His first opportunity came with Calming Influence in the Group 2 Godolphin Mile, the second race on the World Cup card.

Ridden by Ahmed Ajtebi, the jockey now retained by his Moulton Paddocks stable in Newmarket, the five-year-old won by a length.

“I said I would be happy to finish fourth in a big race at Meydan but, to be honest, I didn’t expect to win,” remembers Al Zarooni.

“What made it really great for me was that it was the first day for Meydan, and World Cup night.

“To have a winner with my first runner – I was very, very happy. I thank God and I thank His Highness for being in Godolphin.”

It wasn’t beginner’s luck. Rewilding made the frame at Epsom, 13 days after Bethrah denied Al Zarooni a first Classic when pipping Anna Salai at the post on the Curragh.

Anna Salai, like Rewilding a graduate of the Andre Fabre equine academy, has been added to the field for Friday’s Coronation Stakes, where she will clash with another filly seeking Redemption, the Henry Ceciltrained Jacqueline Quest.

Inwardly, Al Zarooni will be desperate to crown such a bright beginning to his new role with a Group 1 success. Externally, he’s playing the long game.

“I’m not going to say I’m going to win. I want to get involved and learn more for the future,” he says.

“I’m 33, so I’m still young, and I’m going to see what’s happening and learn.

“Anna Salai ran very well and I hope she can run a good race, but it’s not easy – she is running against some nice fillies, and she was fit and professional when she came from Andre Fabre.

“She hasn’t improved, and she hasn’t gone down.”

The educational process will continue for years to come, but Al Zarooni knows that Newmarket is the ideal place for a man in his position.

“Newmarket is like school for me – it’s the best place in the world to be around horses and to learn, because you’re around the best trainers in the world.

“His Highness took me in the car to show me Moulton Paddocks, and on the way we passed Warren Hill.

“When I saw Warren Hill, I saw something that I can’t express in English – if you learn Arabic, I will tell you!

“I was frightened and excited, but very happy. I watched Newmarket on TV when I was in Dubai, but it is much, much better in reality than on the TV.

“In Dubai we would run once a week at Nad Al Sheba. Here you are running every day and up and down the country, on firm ground and on soft ground.

“There is a great deal of variety, and you learn a lot. I am always watching trainers and trying to follow them.”

One thorny lesson Newmarket’s newest trainer will learn is that the good times can be all too fleeting.

At the end of the 1990’s, bin Suroor, a Derby winner with Lammtarra early in his career, was routinely bagging Europe’s most longed-for trophies.

A dip in the stable’s fortunes – as the original crack squad fleshed out to become a bloated and unmanageable horde – was inevitable.

Jealousy among peers made way for schadenfreude until the trainer’s resurgent 2009 boasted 202 victories across the globe, including 13 in Group 1’s. During the lean times bin Suroor drew support from the sheikh, who resisted the temptation for root-andbranch change to a winning formula in need of just a nip and a tuck.

Neither will there be a knee jerk when Al Zarooni suddenly loses his Midas touch.

“Some owners, who have one horse, will give you a hard life. I have more than 100 horses for His Highness, and I don’t feel one per cent of pressure I felt with private owners before.

“He’s the ruler of Dubai, and if he wasn’t like this he wouldn’t be a ruler.

“He’s been in this game a long time, and he knows the game very well.”

BEIJING // Lee Jian Wen smiles as he holds up a photograph showing him with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid.

Lee Jian Wen, the chairman of Globe Enterprise Management, the Beijing-based company developing Meydan Phoenix City in association with the Dubai-based Meydan Group. Daniel Bardsley / The National

It is hardly surprising that Mr Lee is enthusiastic about Dubai and its Ruler. His Beijing-based firm, Globe Enterprise Management, has partnered with Meydan Group, the Dubai-based developer of the Meydan Racecourse that hosted its first Dubai World Cup in late March, to create plans for Meydan Phoenix City in China.

The US$4 billion (Dh14.6bn) development in Ninghe county is expected to include an equestrian college, stud farm, horse auction centre, feedstuff plant, offices, apartments, villas, a five-to-seven-star hotel and, should the state give the go-ahead, a horse racing course.

“The horse racing culture, the whole management of the industry in Dubai is very similar to [the proposals for] China,” he said. “Around the world, horse racing involves gambling and betting, but in Dubai it’s a carnival.”

Mr Lee, the chairman of Globe Enterprise Management, said the Meydan Phoenix City project represented the culmination of a personal quest dating back nearly a decade to when Beijing won the bid for the 2008 Olympics.

Although the Olympics were hailed as a success, the equestrian events had to take place in Hong Kong because horse racing was outlawed on the mainland when the Communists took over in 1949. When the Olympic plans were taking shape, Mr Lee decided it was time that changed.

“I did research in the domestic market and I visited places like Dubai and the United States to see what horse racing is like,” he said. “I thought why shouldn’t we have a national-scale horse racing course.”

Mr Lee emphasised that Meydan Phoenix City was about more than racing, which remains heavily restricted on the mainland.

“We will build the infrastructure and see if the Chinese government opens the market,” he said. “We can develop it with the horse racing centre or without the horse racing centre.”

Other sources of income will include levies on horse auctions and tuition fees from the equestrian college. The market, he said, is “huge”.

“With the training college, we have always used coaches trained in other countries to be directors here in the domestic market. That costs money and it’s very humiliating. We send our competitors in horse racing around the world, but we don’t have our own college. That’s ridiculous.

“We will build the infrastructure and lay the foundation for this industry in the future.”

The plan is to employ 10,000 people and have 1,000 horses in the breeding programme.

Mr Lee said the location at a site in Ninghe county, 30km from the centre of Tianjin, a city 30 minutes by high-speed train ride from Beijing, was a major plus.

“According to the experts it’s suited to the breeding of horses because there’s abundant juicy grass,” Mr Lee said. “In Tianjin in the summer it’s very mild, and in the winter it only snows once or twice.”

Overall, Mr Lee said the project, the building of which could start later this year and take five years, would succeed because of its scope and scale.

“No single horse racing course has a future in China,” he said. “We don’t have the expertise or the talent for that and it won’t get support from the government.

“This is a whole industry chain [being created] and that’s why we seriously think it will be a success.”

Gaofeng Yue, the executive secretary general of the China Horse Industry Association, said Tianjin Horse City would play “a leadership role” in expanding the country’s horse industry.

“It’s very complete and self-sufficient. It has feedstuffs and everything else needed for the industry,” he said.

“It integrates resources from Malaysia and the UAE. Our association is paying great attention to this project.

“All the sports related to horses originated in China although they’re more popular in western countries. They came from China and we’re trying to regain that position.”

dbardsley@thenational.ae

Meydan announced its flagship Meydan Grandstand and Racecourse facility has been voted the second most important sports venue globally.

Meydan City

The World Games Stadium in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, was voted as the most important venue by internationally recognised sports title; SportsPro magazine. Third was Cowboys Stadium, Dallas, fourth was Wembley in London, fifth was Soccer City in Johannesburg.

Almost unanimously seen as a ‘game-changing’ venue not only for the Middle East but for the sport of horse racing across the world, Meydan also rated highly in terms of innovation, originality, infrastructure, potential commercial prowess and the sheer magnitude of the integrated facility.

Published in the June edition of SportsPro magazine, the list is the first global ranking of its kind and includes venues from 13 different countries including North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The venues were compiled by the SportsPro editorial team, before the rankings were determined through consultation with a number of sports industry experts which included designers, architects, stadium managers and sponsorship experts.

Around 100 global sporting venues were analysed and pared down to the final top 30. A broad spectrum across various sports and geographical locations were considered with UAE’s Yas Marina Circuit and Dubai Sports City also being nominated and placed at 8^th and 11^th positions in the poll respectively. The list ranked venues in order of importance, be it architectural, political, sporting, social, historical, or environmental.

SportsPro is an international monthly magazine for the business of sport, focusing on sponsorship and financing as well as marketing and management across the world’s top sports. With a monthly readership of over 65,000 across 35 countries, it features the sports industry’s top executives, events, deals and venues as well as reports, sponsorship reviews and industry insights.

David Cushnan, Editor of SportsPro, said: “Meydan has set new standards and its placing properly reflects that. It is not only a monument to Shaikh Mohammed’s vision for Dubai, but a new benchmark for the entire international racing industry. Every other future racing venue will be judged against features like Meydan’s Grandstand, the hotel and the new training facilities. It is also a perfect marriage of tradition and technology and the centrepiece of a city built from scratch, completely unique in that it could only happen in Dubai. There should be absolutely no surprise that it ranked so highly in our list.”

Mohammad A. Nasser Al Khayat, Commercial Director of Meydan, said, “‘It is indeed an honour for us to be recognised globally by the recent SportsPro poll. Seeing that we have only just launched the Meydan Grandstand and Racecourse as part of our first phase of the Racecourse District in Meydan City, and more so when one realises that this is only a glimpse of the full scope of what it will eventually encompass.”