The Asian Racing Conference is being held for the first time in Dubai. About 1000 delegates are expected to attend the conference that will be spread over five days, beginning January 21, 2007. India had hosted this event way back in 1995, with Hyderabad and Mumbai being the hosting centers. The Asian Racing Conference is held on rotation at member countries every two years.
The Asian Racing Conference overlaps with the Dubai Racing Carnival and as such, the conference is sure to evoke greater interest. With horses from all over the World having arrived for the month-long racing carnival, which concludes with the Dubai World Cup, racing as well as the Conference will be the focus of attention of racing enthusiasts.
Fittingly, the theme of the conference is ``Racing Without Borders'', which is what Dubai set out to achieve when it invited all racing bodies in the World to send their horses to participate in the Dubai Racing Carnival by offering generous subsidies. The primary objective of the conference would be to foster discussion and decision to promote the sport of international horse racing. The venue of the conference and trade exhibition is Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai.
There is excited anticipation as the event is fast approaching. More then 100 speakers will contribute to the business sessions, operational sessions and workshops that will be staged over the course of the five-day conference. The high profile identities as the best-selling author, Les Carlyon; motivational sports speaker and author, Pat Williams; and Malcolm Speed, Chief Executive of the International Cricket Council, will be the focus of attention.
Elaborating on the main speakers, Mr Philip Neck, International Liaison Officer, said that Les Carlyon is an internationally acclaimed writer whose career has combined multiple award-winning journalism, authorship of best -selling military histories and lyrical sports writing that has seen him dubbed the 'Damon Runyon' of his era. The author of Gallipoli, which is a best seller in Australia and Britain; Mr Carlyon has been the editor of The Age, and editor-in-chief of the Herald and Weekly Times Group which publishes Australia's two leading metropolitan broadsheets.
Mr Pat Williams is the senior vice president of the NBA's Orlando Magic. Also one of America's top motivational and inspirational speakers, Mr Williams has addressed employees from many of the Fortune 500 companies and the Million Dollar Round Table.
Former head of the Australian Cricket Board, Malcolm Speed is the ICC Supremo, having taken over as its Chief Executive in July 2001. Mr Speed has helped globalise the sport and has dealt with a range of issues crucial to the financial stability of the game and making ICC, one of the richest sports bodies in the World. His expertise is sought to provide valuable insights for the internationalisation of racing.
These and a host of other leading personalities will engage the audience in a business programme that will address all of the major issues that confront racing in the 21st century. Mr Neck said that the major issues that are likely to come up for discussion, among other things, included:
· Achieving international movement of horses to support global racing
· Arriving at the right model for international race series
· Going global: Learning from the experiences of other sports
· Legislation to protect racing's intellectual property
· A crowded market place: Competing with other gambling forms
· Reforming the taxation of wagering
· International co-mingling of totalisator pools
· Industry occupational health and safety: Optimising the safety of jockeys
· Achieving harmonisation in regulatory approaches
· The international reciprocation of penalties
· Race programming and planning to entertain the racing enthusiasts
· Planning a racecourse in the 21st century
· The 'inventors': Showcasing new technologies in racing
· Race track design and ergonomics: The potential of synthetic surfaces
· Loyalty programs and prize money models to maximise race horse ownership
· Picking a winner: Showcasing the leading advertising campaigns from around the world
· Breeding for speed - the implications of current trends in racing and breeding
· Use of stem cell technology in racing
· The cutting-edge advances in equine veterinary science
· Management: Achieving the right structure and cultures to deliver increased profitability
· An international passport: Synchronising training programs to obtain the maximum potential
from racing's global work force.
· Drug control: Tacking the issue of sensitivity of analysis.
The structure of the programme has been designed to allow issues to be explored at both macro and micro level, with business sessions, operational sessions and workshops each individually tailored to not only present expert analysis of contemporary issues but also to maximise audience participation, Mr Neck said.
Mr. Saeed H. Al-Tayer, Vice Chairman of the Emirates Racing Authority, said, "We are very excited at what looks a very interesting and informative programme for the 31st Asian Racing Conference to be held in Dubai in January.
"The line up of speakers is inspiring and I am sure that all those attending the Conference will benefit from their experience," the Vice-Chairman added.
Mr. Lawrence T. Wong, Chairman of the Asian Racing Conference, said, "The Asian Racing Conference is the region's premier gathering of racing professionals. For ARF members it is a great opportunity to benchmark against the best in Asian and world racing, and for our colleagues around the world it is a window into Asia's fast developing racing industry. With the support of the Emirates Racing Authority, the 31st Conference will undoubtedly be a most productive and memorable event. I look forward to seeing you in Dubai"
International interest in attending the conference is already growing with registration now available on-line at the official event website
www.arcdubai2007.com.
