I (mis)spent some of my youth at race tracks, and a lot more of it listening to horse talk and race calls on the radio on a Saturday, due to my father’s interest in the sport.
I have some special memories of those times so, although the experience was quite different, it was something of a nostalgic buzz to go to the racetrack in Abu Dhabi.
Well, my friends and I didn’t quite go to the racetrack, we went to the golf club on the far side of the course, where you can watch the races start, but you have to find a television set to see the finish.
But you can also relax, eat and imbibe and have some fun trying to pick a winner (although actual gambling of the type done on race courses elsewhere is forbidden).
The card features races involving purebred Arabian horses and the more familiar thoroughbreds (which also originated in the Middle East), and the events are run to international standard rules.
Many of the horses are owned by members of the United Arab Emirates royal families, and the jockeys and trainers come from Ireland, the UK, the US and Australia.
For the comfort of everyone meetings are held only in the winter months (November to March), and the meetings are “twilight” events starting late in the afternoon and ending around 7.30pm.
