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Head of Dubai Racing Club eyes bright future

We are always trying to introduce something new each year, said Major General Dr Mohammed Essa Al Adhab ahead of Saturday's Dubai World Cup

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As many as 131 horses will compete across nine races at the Dubai World Cup on Saturday. — Reuters file

by Leslie Wilson Jr

Published: Fri 24 Mar 2023, 9:28 PM

The head of the Dubai Racing Club has said that the growth of horse racing management is likely to hinge on the augmented technology and the success of the metaverse.

Speaking ahead of the 27th Dubai World Cup, the forward-thinking Major General Dr Mohammed Essa Al Adhab, noted that the introduction of the Dubai Verse Cup was in line with Dubai’s vision to adapt new technologies to develop sports like horse racing.

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“We are always trying to innovate and introduce something new each year,” said Al Adhab who has been the head of the Dubai Mounted Police for the last 23 years.

“Almost every day you see something new happening in Dubai. Dubai is a developing city and as the Dubai World Cup is a part of Dubai you will see the same concept happening.

“It has always been our vision to be the best, the leaders in the sport and that’s why we want to attract the best horses, owners, trainers and jockeys to Dubai,” he added.

“We will ensure that new events are added every year to keep the future generation engaged in the sport.”

Major General Dr Mohammed Essa Al Adhab. — KT file

People are attracted to cities that are centres of culture, economic opportunity and sporting excellence and Al Adhab believes this is what makes Dubai special.

“We are in the Holy Month of Ramadan and this is the first edition of the Dubai World Cup to be held during this period,” he said.

“Due to the pandemic we lost one edition of the race while the second was just returning to normal life but we had to be very careful about the safety of all concerned.”

Al Adhab said that his journey with horse racing began in 2001 when he became the first UAE national to attend a Stewarding course in Australia.

“I have led the team at the Dubai Racing Club for the past three years but my relationship with the sport began a long time ago,” he said. “I regularly attended several courses in Hong Kong, Macau, Ireland, the UK and South Africa, where I was learning new things.”

Al Adhab stressed that hosting an event like the Dubai World Cup was always going to be challenging because of the large racing population that descends on Dubai every last Saturday in March.

“You have to take care of the guests and ensure that everything is going in the right direction,” he said. “We involve different nationalities to make it happen.”

The DRC chief also said that by working with the Dubai Mounted Police it gave him the opportunity to be around horses in endurance, show jumping and on the flat.

As a result he became committed to a project for retired horses.

“We have a wonderful programme at the Dubai Mounted Police where we take care of horses after their careers are over,” Al Adhab said. “We have anything between 35 to 40 horses on the programme who are well looked after. The aim is to give them a life after life.”

Earlier this week Al Adhab saluted the Dubai World Cup’s worldwide appeal following news that over 40 broadcasters from all corners of the globe will showcase the $30.5million fixture featuring top-class races and horses.

Dubai Racing Club, working with its appointed distribution and production company, Racecourse Media Group (RMG), and RMG’s agency HBA Media, have secured some of the biggest names in sports broadcasting including Fox Sports in the US, ESPN / Star+ in South America, SuperSport in Africa, Viaplay in Europe, Dubai Media and BeIN in the Middle East, and, for the first time, ITV, the UK’s biggest commercial broadcaster.

Those in the skies and the seas can watch live on-board selected airlines and cruise-lines via the Sport 24 network.

Al Adhab said: “The Dubai World Cup will once again receive huge exposure from broadcasters all around the world, and we are particularly delighted that ITV – the UK’s biggest commercial broadcaster – will show live action from Meydan Racecourse for the first time.

“We look forward to welcoming all the broadcasters and their audiences, both new and old, to the event and hope they enjoy one of the great sporting spectacles.”

Leslie Wilson Jr

Published: Fri 24 Mar 2023, 9:28 PM

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