Dubai: Meydan Hotels and Hospitality, a division of Meydan City Corporation, launched its own hotel management brand, Meydan Hotels, in January.

The new company, managed by Abdin Nasralla, has assumed management of its owned properties Bab Al Shams and The Meydan hotel, which were formerly managed by the Jumeirah Group.

“We can confirm that the day-to-day management of The Meydan Hotel and Bab Al Shams Desert Resort and Spa is back with Meydan LLC as from 1 January 2011,” a spokesperson from Jumeirah Group said.

“Both companies will cooperate closely to facilitate a smooth transition period.”

Jumeirah Group has operated Bab Al Shams since its opening on December 2, 2004 and Meydan Hotel since its opening on March 4, 2010.

“Having successfully launched the two hotels under the Jumeirah Group, Meydan Hotels is delighted to now manage both properties under the newly formed hotel brand,” Nasralla, vice-president of Meydan Hotels and Hospitality, told Gulf News.

“We are anticipating a busy year ahead and the management transition of our two hotels is our primary focus this year,” he said.

Occupancy rates

Nasralla said he was happy with hotel occupancy so far and predicted that 2011 would be a strong year for the tourism and hospitality sector in Dubai. “Currently, the main feeder markets for our properties are Europe and the GCC,” he said.

“We will enhance our sales activities further within the GCC feeder markets and the Indian sub-continent, targeting corporate, group, government and leisure sales.

“As the world’s first and only luxury trackside hotel, there is naturally a strong interest from horse-loving nations such as the UAE and the wider Middle East, Western Europe, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Japan, Hong Kong, China and Singapore.”

Nasralla also said the company will target the international MICE market “as we have amazing venues and facilities that are ideally suited for conferences and events, meetings, and incentives.”

Dubai Meydan has reaffirmed its commitment to international equestrian as the gold sponsor of the Endurance Championship at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) to be held in Kentucky, US.

The sponsorship aligns Meydan along the objectives of the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), with support across other initiatives such as the FEI Nations Cup for show jumping, which Meydan has been the title sponsor for the past two years.

Meydan’s exhibition booth is located near the Trade Stands and will showcase an informative and educational experience for the public, including give-aways and exhibition displays of the Meydan City project in Dubai and of its deep-rooted equine heritage.

The Endurance Championship will be held on Sunday, the second day of the Games at Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. The participating teams at this year’s Games will have five riders instead of the usual six, and will consist of the best endurance riders worldwide.

The Endurance Championship is held over a distance of 160km across altitude differentials of 300 feet in Kentucky Horse Park and surrounding farmland, with five compulsory stops for veterinary checks. The course comprises of six loops varying in lengths between 18 to 40km, with each loop starting and finishing at the Forego polo field. The race will start at 7am with the winners expected to cross the finish line at 7.30pm. A majority of the participating horses will be pure-bred Arabians, with the remaining predominantly Anglo-Arabs — half thoroughbred (mare) and half Arabian (stallion).

Excellent avenue

Saeed Humaid Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Meydan, said: “We are pleased to be a Gold Sponsor presenting the Endurance Championship at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. Meydan has always firmly supported equestrian sports internationally, and with the prestige and recognition that the World Equestrian Games garners, being associated with the Championship has allowed us an excellent avenue to communicate with an international audience about Meydan. It further allows us to capitalise on the synergies that exist between our respective cultures given our mutual appreciation for equestrian sports, and also to those who share that same passion internationally and who might look to Meydan as a possible venue for consideration of future related business and lifestyle investments or partnerships.”

Dubai: Leading horses with Dubai connections are poised to make a swoop for top honours at this year’s Royal Ascot meeting which starts at the famous Berkshirecourse in England Tuesday.

One of the world’s most famous race meetings which dates back to 1711, Royal Ascot kicks off with a triple Group 1 treat featuring the Queen Anne Stakes, King’s Stand Stakes and the St James’s Palace Stakes.

The Dubai-owned Godolphin stable have an outstanding record at Royal Ascot and will be hoping to add to their success by winning the Queen Anne for the eighth time with Calming Influence.

Trained by Mahmoud Al Zarouni and set to be ridden by Ahmad Ajtebi, 33/1 Calming Influence is joined by another horse with Dubai connections in Ouqba, owned by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance.

Both Calming Influence and Ouqba have their work cut out for them with this year’s race looking like the strongest renewal in recent history.

Formidable opponents

French super mare Goldikova looks to be the one they will all have to beat while Paco Boy and Rip Van Winkle are equally formidable opponents.

Commenting on the chances of his dual Breeders’ Cup Mile heroine Goldikova, trainer Freddie Head told At The Races: “I am very hopeful she is in the best form and I think she will run a cracking race.”

“I would love to win at Royal Ascot. I haven’t been lucky there but I think she will turn things around Everything has been OK and she has run in Englandbefore and I think she will behave well.”

Godolphin will be hoping that history can repeat itself, having previously scored with Charnwood Forest (1996), Allied Forces (1997), Intikhab (1998), Cape Cross (1999), Dubai Destination (2003), Refuse to Bend (2004) and Ramonti (2007).

Spin Cycle carries the colours of Shaikh Rashid Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum in the King’s Stand Stakes, the British leg of the Global Sprint Challenge run over a straight 1,000 metres.

Australian sprinters have an awesome record in the race having won three of the last five runnings and the David Hayes-trained Nicconi looks good to maintain their domination today.

Godolphin jockey Frankie Dettori takes the ride on the ante-post favourite.

“We have a lot of respect for the locals. Team Aussie is not over-cocky, but I think we will be very competitive.

“I do think the Aussie raiders are comparable to the sprinters that have come over here before,” Hayes told Sportinglife.

Serious threat

However, Kingsgate Native and 2008 winner Equiano are proven over the distance and must pose a serious threat to the rivals. Godolphin’s Roayh is among three horses with Dubai interests in the Group 2 Coventry Stakes. Shaikh Hamdan’s Elzaam and Planet Waves, owned by Dubai businessman Saeed Manana, also line up with 12 other runners in the fray.

Unbeaten Strong Suit and Zoffany look the pick of the runners but recent maiden winner Roayh and York scorer Elzaam are horses tipped to improve and test the credentials of the more fancied runners at the event.

Day One

Emirati connection

Horses with UAE connections (owner/ trainer/ jockey)

5.30pm THE QUEEN ANNE STAKES (Group 1) (1600 metres) n Calming Influence (trained by Mahmoud Al Zarouni) and ridden by Ahmad Ajtebi. Godolphin.

• Ouqba (Barry Hills ) Richard Hills 01642 -2. Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

6.05pm THE KING’S STAND STAKES ) (Group 1) (British Leg of the Global Sprint Challenge (1,000 metres)

• Spin Cycle (B Smart) Richard Mullen. Shaikh Rashid Bin Mohammad Al Maktoum.

7:25pm THE COVENTRY STAKES (Group 2) (1,200 metres)

• Elzaam (M Jarvis) Richard Hills. Shaikh Hamdan. n Planet Waves (Clive Brittain) Seb Sanders. Saeed Manana C. E. Brittain. n Roayh (Saeed Bin Surour) Frankie Dettori. Godolphin

8:00pm THE ASCOT STAKES (4,000 metres)

• Som Tala (Mick Channon) Richard Hughes. Shaikh Ahmad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

8:35 pm THE WINDSOR CASTLE STAKES (Listed) (1,000 metres)

Fascinating figures

Royal Ascot in numbers:

• 30 — Number of races run during the course of the Royal Meeting at Ascot
• 73 —The climb, in yards, that racehorses have to complete to reach the finishing post
• 1,768 — The year the inaugural Royal Meeting took place at Ascot
• 4,023 — The distance run in the longest race at the meeting — the Ascot Gold Cup.

Dubai: Meydan, one of the region’s largest integrated horse-racing facilities, may be going with the times and slowing the development of its mega project Meydan City down a notch.

However, it allows the developer to get the most reliable partners on board and look for more opportunities further afield.

The developer tenders all its project components to give everyone a fair chance and to get the best quality, not necessarily price, said Saeed Humaid Al Tayer, chairman of the board and CEO of Meydan.

The competition for its latest tender — the contract for Meydan Metropolis Business Park Phase I — was intense, Guangsha Middle East Construction’s managing director, Shili Yu, told Gulf News.

“We won’t look for another project within Dubai, the project is big enough already,” he said, adding he could not reveal the contract value other than that it was very big.

Al Tayer said he could not disclose the exact amount as it could still change and negotiations with sub-contractors and other suppliers were still ongoing.

Construction costs

Construction costs have come down since the boom, but Al Tayer recognises that the challenge is to be constantly on the lookout for fluctuating prices and make sure a profit is made, but be fair to all, contractors, developers and ultimately the buyer of property.

“We have to make Dubai competitive again. Most of our around 70 partners have paid and got their land parcels but we sit down with them and future investors to understand their needs. The days of simply pricing something high are over. We want a healthy state of affairs,” Al Tayer said.

He said Dubai had time to reflect and couldn’t ignore what was happening around the world. The focus is keeping Meydan’s attractiveness as low density, environmentally friendly development and be ready for investors as they come along.

“We can’t just sit here and wait for the grass to grow, because there is a global downturn. But the challenge is to change the people’s mindsets to adapt to certain scenarios. The cost escalated in the past but people still embarked on projects. Now the cost has come down, but there is a bit of reluctance globally to finance,” he told Gulf News.

At Meydan City itself, the shooting range, facilities for dressage, show jumping, the I-max cinema are readying and the museum would open before the next World Cup. The other Meydan City components, Horizon and Godolphin Park have not been forgotten.

Priority

“I have to assess the components and partners to get the right genuine ones before launching anything and that takes a little bit of time. But Godolphin River Park’s signature mall is the next thing on our high priority list, we’ll be working at a rapid pace here,” he revealed.

Al Tayer also told Gulf News that work with the RTA is ongoing to complete two more interchanges and make the canal navigable within 24 months.

The developer’s joint venture in China, the Meydan Phoenix Horse City in Tianjin, is going ahead as planned. Meydan brings its equine expertise on board, including breeding, in particular and may get involved in more projects in the country.

“We don’t need to reinvent the wheel we’re taking what we have learnt here to China, incorporating local, but also a similar design there for the tracks, for example jockeys gave us a good feedback. China has the appetite to have more than just one racecourse there may be other cities we’re interested in,” Al Tayer said.

Guangsha has not signed anything yet, but Shili told Gulf News it would certainly be interested in tendering for Meydan projects in its home country.