The United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) horse racing industry is expected to triple in size over the next five years and prize money to grow by almost 100 percent, according to Les Benton, CEO of Emirates Racing Association.
“The UAE is witnessing an explosion in the equine world. Racing in the Middle East has seen crowd figures grow by 30 percent year-on-year from 1998 and prize money mushroom from 40 million Emirati dirhams ($10.9 million) to Dh90 million in three years,” Benton stated.
To facilitate the growth, plans are already afoot for new facilities at Nad Al-Sheba, new grandstands in Sharjah, Ghantoot and Abu Dhabi, a race course in Al-Ain, a new Polo Club for Dubai and elsewhere in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, racecourses in Bahrain and Qatar.
The Equestrian Show, a regional trade show dedicated to the equine world, is scheduled to take place March 20-22, 2002 at Nad Al-Sheba racecourse in Dubai, leading up to the Dubai World Cup, the world's richest horse race. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
