"Basically, what I do is work.”

SO Frank Gabriel Jnr was quoted as saying in a column on the Daily Racing Form website in March 2007. It was the case before, regardless of the job title, and is the same nine and a half years later.

The 61-year-old American is enthused by having such a wide gamut of responsibilities in his role as executive director of racing at the Dubai Racing Club. You suspect that if he didn’t, he’d take them on anyway.

Since arriving in the United Arab Emirates’ most populated city in 2005, when he was appointed CEO of DRC, Gabriel has overseen a remarkable transition, with the Dubai Racing Carnival now firmly established in the calendar.

Of course the Dubai World Cup had created an instant impact when Cigar claimed the inaugural prize in 1996 but that was a long way from creating a festival that would earn credibility in the rest of the world.

In the meantime, Gabriel oversaw the construction on the Nad Al Sheba site of Meydan Racecourse, which is the standard-setter in terms of catering for both the public and the protagonists. This includes the longest single structure on the planet at 1.6km, the Meydan Grandstand, which houses the world’s first five-star trackside hotel.

This was a mammoth project to take on, particularly given the harsh economic climate at the time but the construction was completed in a year and opened in March 2010.

The wish to place Dubai as a desirable destination for high quality racing drove the prime minister and ruler of Dubai – we know him best as a leading owners and breeder – Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to form a team that would make his dream a reality.

When Gabriel came to Dubai with his wife Christine, he brought with him an ethic for getting into the trenches, an attention to detail and an ability to get a team to rally behind him. Be it the invitations, security, marketing or the barns housing the horses – Gabriel’s fingerprints will be all over them.

Such is the impact he has made as leader of the DRC that he has become active with the Asian Racing Federation, and directed Dubai’s alliance with authorities in China.

He has done all this despite the hurdles surrounding the travel and quarantine that were quite more significant 10 years ago than they are today, expense, and cultural differences with the west that include the prohibiting of betting.

“It’s not me,” he demurs. “It’s what you’ve got from His Highness’ leadership and the board; we’ve just got a good team that works very hard to bring success to the region and to racing in the UAE. We’re just one part of the global stage and that’s what’s important. If everyone looks at that, we can all be successful in the business of horse racing.”

Gabriel’s humble beginnings in the industry prepared him for taking a universal approach to his work. Mind you, his abiding passion as a youth was for basketball and his brother John has only recently retired after a lengthy involvement in the NBA that included 12 years as general manager of the Orlando Magic franchise.

“I lived that dream through him,” he laughs.

It was Gabriel Snr that turned him onto racing. The family patriarch had always had a love of the game, even as he ran a factory in Woodhill, and owned a few horses. Later on he started training and Gabriel Jnr recalls going to the barns with him on Saturday mornings.

By 1974, Gabriel’s father had progressed to administration and was running a small, country track in Timonium, which ran and still runs in conjunction with the Maryland State Fair. That year, he took his son into the office with him.

“We call it the half-mile track. It’s where you kinda do six jobs with one position. It was multi-tasking I guess.

“The last probably 15 years in Chicago (Arlington Park) and 12 years in New Jersey (Meadlowlands), I spent a lot of my time in operations and racing. I involved myself with the tracks, the facilities, the stables because it all comes into one play. If you’re on top of it, it makes a better system that you can create understanding of what the needs, concerns or issues are from a track, from a barn area, or even a facility for the guests, the fans, the media. It’s all one stop.”

He moved from Timonium to Keystone (now Parx Racing) and took a variety of roles in Atlantic City, Meadowlands, Garden State Park, Hialeah Park, Gulfstream Park and Arlington before landing in Dubai.

“The Carnival started in 2004, which was the year before I got here. The purpose was to fill what was probably a void in the region and the calendar. Europe is kind of shut down, there was interest from horses in South Africa and South America and it was thought that maybe they could create something that could lead up to the Dubai World Cup. They did a lot of work and each year they created more awareness.

“Then the turf course came into play and that’s really what opened the door for the Carnival. Then the creation of Meydan put us in a different stratosphere in regards to what we could offer the guests and the horsemen.

“The facility is maturing each year. To dream you have to believe in yourself and in the dream. His Highness had a vision and that’s what Dubai is about. You just need everyone to believe in that. It was a quick build to get it going from when we started in 2009 to opening in 2010 but each year it gets better and we’re really fortunate to keep working on the Carnival, to create this experience and opportunity for horsemen from around the world to compete.”

There have been many changes to the Carnival since its inception but one key area stands out.

“Where the big change has come is in the quality of runners. In the early stages, the handicapper was coming here and making great money and then going back home to run. As we got into 2008, 2009, 2010, you needed a listed horse to win a handicap. When you look at us, the average horse coming here is anywhere from 101-103. That is a tough group of horses that you’ve got to compete in in a handicap. That’s the big change.

“We’ve changed the track. We originally opened in 2010 with a synthetic (Tapeta) track. In 2014 we switched back to the dirt track and have seen the results of those changes, with horses from different parts of the world coming back to the dirt. But we never lost sight of the core European market for the turf racing for sure.”

The move came against the backdrop of the Americans, howvever the highest rated horse in the world, California Chrome, still came and won the Dubai World Cup earlier this year, but one wonders if it needed selling in Europe?

“I don’t think there were any concerns about selling it ‘cos we had the same dirt surface at Nad Al Sheba and were getting European runners. So we were never in the position to say ‘We want Europeans to run on dirt.’ We’re not looking for that. We’re looking for them to compete in the best races that they feel suit their horses and the majority of that is turf racing.

“Yes, if they had a horse that they felt could compete on the dirt, we’d love to have them. We look for all international runners on all surfaces. Our intention is to continue to push to get the best horses we can from the European stables.

“That change was something that management wanted, to go back to what was successful when they had Nad Al Sheba dirt. I think if you look at the last two World Cups, you’d say we went the right direction.”

The programme has been tweaked over time and that process continues. The stayers’ programme has been beefed up, while the Al Quoz Sprint distance increased from 1000m to 1200m.

“It ran at 1200m when we opened Meydan in 2010 but because we were competing against the synthetic track, we saw a lot of horses going into the turf and synthetic categories, so we wanted to change that distance. But now that we’re back on the dirt, we wanted to put the Al Quoz back to 1200 because that would open us up for more of a clientele of 1400-1200 and 1000m horses, which gives us more international exposure.

“In doing that, we’ve created a 1200m turf series and made a 1000m turf series with the Meydan Sprint as a feature race, which is a Group 3. So you’ve two categories there that you can carry through the Carnival.

“The other area that we addressed was the stayers’ race. We believe it’s something everyone in the world is trying to maintain. It’s the old history and we want to be part of that. So we added a 3200m handicap in the middle of the Carnival programme that’s going to feed the Nad Al Sheba Trophy or go right into the Gold Cup.”

MEYDAN EXPERIENCE

Gabriel professes himself delighted with the level of European and particularly, Irish participation and is targeting an increase in their numbers over the coming months. The increasing prevalence of all-weather racing in the UK and Ireland means that the handicappers have opportunities to remain active closer to home but the prize-money, the weather and the Meydan experience continue to entice.

“This race meet is open to anyone that thinks they have the horse to compete. There are so many horses in Europe, many small stables, but they have one or two that are competitive in the handicaps. Those are great storylines and what you’re looking for.”

The qualification criteria are fairly straightforward.

“We’re usually looking for 95-and-up rated horses. Where we try and come down is the three-year-old fillies and colts, getting into the 80-85 range. They’re still young and they still probably haven’t proven enough in the rating. So we’re looking for those three-year-olds to develop in the fillies and colts divisions.”

The Meydan season gets under way next Thursday, with four more fixtures before the end of the year. The Dubai World Cup Carnival itself kicks off on January 5th and continues through the following two months. Super Saturday, on March 4th, provides many of the World Cup horses with an opportunity to get a prep run in before the richest race in the world exactly three weeks later, when US$10m will be on offer. That night alone, horses will be racing for US$30m.

When you tie in the contributions DRC make to travel, accommodation and meals for horses and staff, and the fact that throughout the Carnival, there is US$1m a day in prize-money on offer daily with a minimum purse of €100,000 in any race, the attraction for the international contingent is obvious.

Gabriel isn’t sure what impact Brexit might have but emphasises the resilience that racing as an industry and the people that keep the wheels turning have shown throughout time. Anyway, there was a time when the absence of betting was seen as a problem but that has long been put to bed.

“Because there is no wagering, people think you can’t be successful. Where we’re successful is we get six or seven thousand people in a normal day of racing. We do different competitions and games to keep them interested. But it’s the cultural sport here and the love of horse racing that drives many people to come. You probably couldn’t go anywhere in the world, whether it be Champions’ Day in Ascot, Breeders’ Cup, Arc, Japan Cup and expect 60,000 people with no wagering. But people want to be here on those days and that’s the experience that keeps us going.”

CHINESE AVENUE

His involvement in the ARF has brought him racing to Korea, Singapore, Japan, Australia and Hong Kong but it is the partnership with Chinese authorities that is interesting, based purely on developing the sport in a new region. Ireland has seen plenty of activity in terms of selling horses to this new market in recent years. Promoting racing within the country, and promoting the country as a tourist destination is a huge attraction for them.

For their part, Gabriel and DRC formed an alliance that led to the Chengdu International Cup being run for the first time in 2014 and has revolved around bringing Dubai-based horses, jockeys and staff to China to exhibit racing.

“We’ve had this cooperation with Chengdu government and the Wenjiang district government to operate a race meet the week or two after the World Cup, where we bring about 40-50 horses and staff and create this race meet in Chengdu, China. It’s a small space we’re given but we attract 4000 or 5000 people in a day in China.

“China is a big player in economics and finance, and in sport. Horse racing is something that I think in general the population loves and hopefully down the road, the future governments and authorities will work with the Asian Racing Federation and hopefully the future will be that there will be a circuit that builds to a world class operation.”

And the future for the Dubai Racing Carnival?

“The main thing is consistency and maintaining the level that we’re at. That takes a lot of work just to get there. And I think the key for us is to keep getting some new owners coming here, to experience it, because once you get the feel of it, you get the tendency to have a lot of repeat performers and that’s the key.

“The Carnival is the stepping stone to the Dubai World Cup but we use Super Saturday now as a big ploy in getting more international runners. With a total purse of a million eight US ($1.8m), it’s a great opportunity. We find with the dirt horses, they’ll come early to get a run on the track.

“If you look at Postponed running on Super Saturday, those are big feats for us to get that horse to prep and then run on World Cup night. Those are two good races that we get out of that horse. If we can get a good 10 or 12 of those types of horses, we’re going in the right direction.

“What’s important is that we’re looking forward to a good Carnival and World Cup and we’ll continue to pursue and get as many Europeans, especially the Irish, as we can here to participate.”