The inside track

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At the gallop: the new Meydan Racecourse site will incorporate a state-of-the-art dirt and turf track, a 1km-long grandstand with a capacity of 60,000, a five-star hotel, the Godolphin Gallery, the Dubai Racing Club, a racing museum and parking for 10,000 cars.

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Douglas Small is the head of projects, Dubai Racing Club.

It is a truism that the Arab world holds a special affinity with horses and horse racing. The Dubai World Cup, held at Nad Al Sheba, is internationally renowned as the world's most lucrative race, with a purse of US $6 million (AED 22 million). Now, in line with progression sweeping across the emirate, the racecourse is to undergo a major revamp, becoming part of a massive, mixed-use development incorporating Meydan Racecourse, Meydan City and Meydan Business Park.

Located in the shadow of the existing racecourse, the new development, spanning seven million m2 will feature a state-of-the-art dirt and turf track and a grandstand with a capacity of 60,000 which will measure an impressive 1km in length. It will also feature a five-star hotel, more than 10 restaurants, several private hospitality boxes, the new home of the Godolphin Gallery, the Dubai Racing Club, a racing museum and parking for approximately 10,000 cars. The design also incorporates a 4km canal, which will run from Dubai Creek and will offer racegoers an opportunity to arrive by boat to the racecourse, which will feature a marina and a boathouse.

The first phase contract for the construction of the grandstand, which includes the 400-room hotel and Godolphin Gallery, was recently awarded to a joint venture of Arabtec and Malaysian firm WCT Engineering for $1.3 billion. According to Douglas Small, head of projects, Dubai Racing Club, the tender for the second phase, which includes the 10,000 car parking space, has just gone out to tender, and he hopes to have these back by mid-November.

Small adds that, to get up to speed in the shortest possible time, a number of other key contracts are being put out to tender currently, including one for the cooling plant and infrastructure. The issue, however, is that the time constraints being placed on the project are a direct result of conforming to the racing schedule. "The problem is that we have got to finish in two years, so all this stuff has to be set up and ready to go," he says. "It's intensive because we have said the 2010 World Cup will be in a new stadium; but that entails moving a lot of facilities as well, so everything is on fast-track."

Small is adamant, however, that this deadline, while challenging, will be met. "You get an end date and work backwards from there. Once you are at that point, you drive it forward."

This has been exacerbated by the fact that the racing season is to continue at Nad Al Sheba during the construction programme. "The point is that we have to run the Dubai World Classic and the racing season during the construction period, and that is a lot of racing. We have to run that perfectly; it isn't going to stop," explains Small.

With the new racing season scheduled to start on 8 November, Small's team has had to build a new, temporary car park capable of hosting 10,000 cars as well as re-route Muscat road, which is being diverted to make space for the new car park that is being built as part of the project (and is what comprises the distinctive falcon shape of the development). Initially, a temporary road will be laid, before the permanent surface is laid at a later date.

Small explains just how logistically challenging the task is, and how accurate the team must be to ensure success, as the team will have to knock down the two existing grandstands, but only after the World Cup in 2009 has finished in March. "So you can only imagine the intricacy in programming and scheduling to get this done," he explains. "Part of this can be organised and partially built, but part must wait until 2009 before we can build the rest of the track." A nursery has already been contracted out to ensure the turf is ready to be replaced as and when required.

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