Get on one's hobby horse

The ‘most exciting 2 minutes in sports’ in the American calendar is the Kentucky Derby, in the UK the Epsom Derby though it is the Royal Ascot Races which is more popular as the Queen attends it every year. In UAE we have the Dubai World Cup, a thrilling by-invitation only horse racing championship held at the Meydan race course. The brainchild of the Ruler of Dubai Shaikh Mohammad, the Dubai World Cup is in its sixteenth year now and remains a fitting tribute to his love of horses and horse-racing.

The Dubai World Cup 2011 had been grabbing all the attention the whole of last week with even the world cup cricket news coming a poor second in the sports pages. A fantastic 8 hour extravaganza last saturday had all the glitz of a bollywood movie……it had action, derama, emotions and masala, lots of masala and it culminated into a exciting finish with Japans Victoire Pisa galloping first past the finish line to take home a prize money of US $6 million of the total prize of US $10 million. The winning jockey was brilliant on the horse inspiring the animal from a bad start[the horse had hit its head on the starting gate just minutes before the race] to the forefront.

Victoire Pisa riden by jockey Mirco Demuro

And how does Nancy know all this???? She reads the papers ofcourse, keeps eyes and ears open AND………she was KEY witness to the whole event. The better-half & she went for the Races on saturday and she just can’t stop crowing about it. Upto 2 weeks back, what she knew about horses could be written on a single piece of paper which is Black Beauty, colt, big, filly, pony-tail, bill from Malory towers, horse-shoe, the highwayman, trot, gallop….well ok make it ¼ sheet of paper. But now you better treat her with a little more respect. She can give you history, statistics & tips on which horses to place your bet on. Why, even yesterday except for Kinsale King almost all the horses she predicted as winners…..ummm lost miserably;-D….but that doesn’t mean anything, even the most seasoned horse enthusiasts sometimes get them wrong you know.

[Getting tired of referring to herself in the 3rd person she gently touches ground]

I gave the 1st two races my all but after that my attention started wandering. The thing is, there is around an hour's gap between each race and how long could one be glued to the guidebook they provided. Shifting focus, I started clicking all the women who were dressed so elegantly with the traditional head gear associated with these do’s. Here have a look…..

  

  

Very few children were seen about & the only one I spied was busy playing some gadget.

I watched men smoothen down the turf and remove all obstacles inbetween races. After they finished their job they got into the back of that pickup & were driven away

There was a march-past in prelude to the stage show going to be conducted. A novelty for many of us as this was the 1st time I was seeing all-arab member march-past;-D

And how can I forget to mention……..the food was delicious. It was not the typical fare, more like hors d'oeuvres, tiny pies in ramekins and itty-bitty sandwiches. The desserts were sublime….baby cupcakes bursting with flavours, divine cheesecakes, tiny tarts & assorted cakes. I’m actually kicking myself for not taking any pictures here. The drinks were flowing freely and it reflected in the upbeat mood which prevailed. I have to tell you this funny thing which amused us to no end….there was this Malayalee waiter who was hovering around us from the time we sat at the dining table till the end. At first we felt a bit weird & then it dawned on me…..he knew we were malayalees & tried to look very busy serving us so that he was not needed to serve at the other tables where most of the diners were westerners. Why…..my guess is that he was not very confident or maybe he didn’t quite grasp their accent. So while every other diner was trying hard to catch the eye of the busy waiters we just had to look up & this sweet guy would come hurrying;-D

Towards the later part of the evening there was a beautiful stageshow in the form of a float with the history of UAE and their connection with horses interweaved.

There were also contests held for the best dressed woman, best hat, best couple and goodness knows what else with some fabulous prizes. If interested, you can view them all here.

And amazing fireworks, though I got the feeling it was a bit toned down this year. For the first time I wished I had a DSLR to capture the fantastic effects.

An evening well-spent, I went to sleep that night with a beautific smile on my face:-).