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WHEN Frankie Dettori rides at the world’s glitziest race meeting today, there will be no drunken bellowing from the half a mile long grandstand or scantily clad spectators stumbling towards a bookmaker.
That’s because the champion jockey will be the star attraction at the Dubai World Cup – where betting is illegal, alcohol sales are limited, and the dress code is strictly no flashing of flesh.
AFP
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AlamyDespite the £24 million prize money event being nothing like lively British races, it is now firmly a must-do for sports enthusiasts.
The biggest stables send their best horses to the oil rich Arab state to try to beat the thoroughbreds running for the competition’s billionaire founder Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
Sir Alex Ferguson and Andrew Lloyd Webber will both have horses in the running at today’s festival.
But many of the thousands of punters are there for the “jaw-dropping” off track entertainment, which has included big acts Jennifer Lopez, Kylie Minogue and Janet Jackson.
Men and women vye for the £40,000 “style stakes” prize fund for sartorial elegance and this year there will be a Guinness world record breaking 4,000 drone firework display.
Celebrities such as Peter Crouch, Abbey Clancy and Denise van Outen have been spotted rubbing shoulders with the global elite and royalty in the luxury stadium.
The millions on offer mean that no one in the racing industry questions the behaviour of Dubai’s authoritarian ruler Sheikh Mohammed, who has been accused of holding two of his daughters captive.
Concerns are not expressed either about more than half of World Cup races being won by the Sheikh or members of his family.
In 2013 his Godolphin stable faced a doping scandal and unlicensed veterinary substances were found on a Dubai government jet when it landed in England.
That won’t stop millions of viewers tuning in from 150 countries to watch the spectacular floodlit night race worth £10 million to the victor.
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APLuke Harvey, former jockey and ITV racing presenter, tells The Sun: “There have been some really memorable moments at the Dubai World Cup and this year looks set to be one of the best.
“It is a global stage with British trainers, Irish ones, the Japanese and Americans out there.
“All the best of the best horses are shipping into this desert oasis for the Dubai carnival, which is a jaw dropping venue.
“Frankie Dettori will be riding Newgate in the Dubai World Cup and will be the big draw.
“After announcing his retirement, he’s now come back to race in the United States where he is doing brilliantly.”
I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here star Frankie, four time winner of the prestigious race, has a good chance of repeating his success on the American horse Newgate.
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GettyLast year he vowed that it would be his final Dubai race, but the 53-year-old legend has returned to the emirate, where he spent many winters with his family while working for Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin stable.
The incredible event is the brainchild of the UAE’s prime minister Sheikh Mohammed.
Legend has it that he rode horses along Dubai’s Jumeirah Beach as a young man and fell in love with British racing while studying English in Cambridge in 1966.
The 74-year-old ruler tasted first success as an owner winning a race at Brighton in 1977 and established the first Dubai World Cup in 1996 on a dirt track at the old Nad Al Sheba stadium.
Since then, he’s established the biggest horse breeding operation in the world, with stud farms in England, Ireland, the United States and Australia.
Dubai is a dry country, where alcohol can’t be drunk in public, there is no chanting, no yobs, it is a very genteel atmosphere
Luke Harvey, ITV racing presenterIn 2010 the state of the art Meydan racecourse was completed with a capacity for 80,000 spectators, air conditioned hospitality suites and the Royal Enclosure with leather chairs.
It is the largest racing facility on the planet.
That high class development is what really put today’s event on the world map.
Major General Dr Mohammed Essa Al Adhab, Executive Director of Dubai Racing Club that is in charge of the event, says: “Due to Dubai’s geographical position, as well as our world-renowned equine facilities and five-star hospitality, we are the most international race meeting on the planet.
“This year we have 14 countries participating, but some years it is closer to 20.
“We have some of the best horses, trainers and jockeys in the world. It is a privilege to be able to bring these stars to Dubai.”
Gold painted sports cars can be found in the vast parking lot and it will set you back £2,155 to sit in the Royal Enclosure.
GettyBut it’s not just an event for the mega rich because you can get in for as little as £4.30.
Just don’t turn up in ripped jeans, shorts or mini-skirts because you’ll be turned away.
The dress code is officially smart casual, with most attendees aiming far higher in the hope of winning the Style Stakes.
There are prizes for best dressed lady, best dressed man, best dressed couple, best hat and best traditional outfit.
Even though the Muslim country is teetotal, Westerners are allowed to consume alcohol in special areas.
It’s wise not to overdo it because boozing or being intoxicated in a public place could see you arrested.
Plans to become a sporting superpower
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AFPLuke explains: “Dubai is a dry country, where alcohol can’t be drunk in public, there is no chanting, no yobs, it is a very genteel atmosphere.”
Acclaim in horse racing, though, is just the first stage of UAE’s road to becoming a sporting superpower.
It has a £1billion Formula One circuit in the capital Abu Dhabi, it hosted the FIFA world club cup final and the country’s vice president Sheikh Mansour owns Premier league champions Manchester City.
Argentina’s world cup winning captain Lionel Messi was an ambassador for the country’s Expo 2020 and the likes of the Beckhams and tennis champ Roger Federer have homes in Dubai.
There is tough competition from fossil fuel producing neighbours Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Qatar held the most recent football world cup, Saudi is set to host the 2034 one and the four year-old Saudi Cup horse race held in the country’s capital Riyadh in February had a purse of £16million.
But that race doesn’t have the prestige of the one in Dubai.
Human rights allegations against Sheikh
All three nations face constant questions about their human rights record.
The UAE’s leaders are unelected, it maintains the death penalty and Amnesty International last month accused the authorities of “arbitrarily” holding 65 defendants, including prominent dissidents.
On the other hand, it no longer carries out the kind of bloody executions faced by Saudi protesters.
The most high profile example of Sheikh Mohammed’s iron grip is the one he’s alleged to hold on his 26 children.
A British judge stated that Dubai’s ruler, who has had at least six wives and has a £75 million estate in Longcross, Surrey, was behind the kidnapping of his daughter Shamsa in Cambridge in 2000.
It has been reported that she was sedated and placed in a private jet back to her homeland.
In 2018 another daughter, Princess Latifa, escaped from Zabeel Palace in a daring nighttime bid for freedom on a yacht.
But she was captured by commandos, taken back to Dubai and has not been heard of since.
The New Yorker magazine claimed last year that Princess Latifa had been beaten for standing up to her father.
The Sheikh’s representatives have denied any wrongdoing and claimed he was protecting his daughters.
One sure bet today is that neither princess will be joining their father for the sporting festivities.
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