If a man might be judged by the books that he chooses to read would it be any surprise if a copy of Great Expectations has a place of prominence in the library of Sheikh Mohammed?

World Cup night in Dubai has always been a bit different to the rest of world racing. Grand plans have been the minutiae in these parts for more than two decades where the deadline for completion of any project that carries the seal of that force of nature, otherwise courteously referred to as His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, is usually yesterday.

Nad Al Sheba had been the beacon in the desert that had drawn horsemen from across the world to the petro-dollarfest for the last 14 years, for a race whose roll of honour carries names like Cigar, Dubai Millennium and Curlin. But the pace of change in Dubai was such that even as the runners were being loaded into the starting stalls for its final hurrah last March, the bulldozers were starting up and its replacement was already casting its own impressive shadow.

However, there is an even greater shadow that has enveloped the emirate as a whole and it is not from the world’s tallest building which opened there earlier this month.

That building had been called the Burj Dubai but at its glamorous, fireworks-strewn launch night the name was abruptly changed to Burj Khalifa, in honour of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan. Now he happens to be the president of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Abu Dhabi and last month Abu Dhabi gave Dubai a $15billion to stave off the financial collapse that had been predicted with about the same certainty that night follows day.

The namechange suggests the bailout may have come with strings attached by Dubai’s more conservative – and more wealthy – neighbour but nothing was ever going to stand in the way of Meydan’s opening night.

It will open its own very impressive doors tonight for the first meeting of the Dubai International Racing Carnival but much has changed since it was first conceived. Not just within Dubai’s own borders, because when the decision was made to replace the dirt surface laid down at Nad Al Sheba with Tapeta track invented by former trainer Michael Dickenson, the idea was to put Meydan just where Sheikh Mohammed always desires to be – at the cutting edge.

However, instead the sheikh now finds himself on what may be the sharp end of a backlash. What was supposed to be the gradual shift in America from dirt to the more horse-friendly synthetic surfaces such as Tapeta has met resistance from certain elements within the sport in the US and problems over drainage at Santa Anita is even raising the possibility of a return to dirt on the track that has hosted the last two Breeders’ Cup meetings.

However, Sheikh Mohammed is a leader by nature rather than a follower and will doubtless believe that he can turn the tide in his favour – and this is not simply another King Canute.      

He knows that the international language is money and having spent a reported £1.6billion on building Meydan he has thrown down the gauntlet in the form of $10million in prize money for the World Cup. In its brief history the race has been won eight times by American-trained horses and attracting the best from there will be the sheikh’s top priority.  

If they come they will be happy with what they find according to Frankie Dettori. As the sheikh’s No.1 jockey he is unlikely to be anything other than enthusiastic but, having ridden the track in a series of trial races last week, it was impossible not to be won over by his belief in the new venture.

“Before it was just a shell but as you drive to the track it’s like Old Trafford, the Emirates and Wembley all rolled into one. The sheer size of it is absolutely jaw dropping. The paddock is situated in front of the grandstand and I walked from one side towards the weighing room at night and when they turned the lights on it looked like a spaceship from Star Wars. It’s so surreal – it’s so big it doesn’t seem real.

“The Tapeta surface is very close to Polytrack, kickback is minimal. Obviously it is a brand new track. We’ve had it at Godolphin for three years and it takes a bit of tweaking but it is fine and every horse goes on it. In the trials last week we found it was a touch on the slow side but you can roll it to make it a little bit quicker, but more or less it is no different to Kempton or Wolverhampton.

“The basics are more or less the same. You can have more wax or less wax or more rubber or less rubber but they are pretty similar. Like everything it will take time to settle but it is 95 per cent there, you are talking about small fractions to tweak it to its very best.”

Small fractions, but great expectations.

Paul Wheeler