Interviews with His Highness - 29 March, 2010
Mohammed's interview with CNN
Interviewer: Your Highness, thank you very much for your time, I'd like to start by asking where did you first get this vision? Where did you first have this dream of Meydan and all it could be?
Sheikh Mohammed: Everybody has a dream... sometimes when people get up they go back to sleep to complete their dream, or some people get up and complete their dreams by working. You know we have been racing locally and I wanted to bring back the magnificent thoroughbred... we wanted to bring it back home. Of course if you go to Europe there are classic races, there are fantastic races in America, also in Australia and in Japan, but not all horses meet. European (horses) tend to stay in Europe; the American (horses) stay in America; the Australian... sometimes the Europeans go to Australia. So I thought why not bring all the best horses to Dubai and let them challenge and race against each other to see and find out who's the best. So I wanted a place in the middle where everybody could come, and it was a dream and I told my people...my team that I wanted a world class racetrack. We started racing and it was great starting with the winner Segar and another 14 winners from different places, and it was a great success. That was the start of the vision.
Interviewer: I know that right through your life horses have been very important...
Sheikh Mohammed: I think that horses are part of our lives, our family. Before when we lived in the desert... we are Bedouin... horses are part of our lives, they are very important to us. The closer you come to horses, the more they give, and that's why they are in my blood and that's why we are bringing the horses back home. The first Arabian horses came from Liwa which is where I also come from. It's not far from here. And then of course those were the sires of the magnificent thoroughbreds being raced all over the world. So that's why I say that we wanted them to come back, and the thoroughbreds are really back here. I am very proud to see people coming here from all corners of the world to participate and take each other on. That's why... I am a winner here when everybody comes. It doesn't matter who wins or loses tomorrow, we want to share the winning with everybody.
Interviewer: I know that everybody who comes here, whether we are talking about the trainers, the jockeys, the owners or just fans... everybody comes here with their own particular thought of what they want to get from this world cup. But for you what would be the ultimate? Once the race has been run and won, what do you want the message to be?
Sheikh Mohammed: My aim... my hope is that everybody enjoys themselves. A lot of people are coming for this weekend. Meydan is for the horses, the owners, the jockeys, the trainers and the people who come here to watch it.
Interviewer: And your vision encompasses more than just a racetrack doesn't it? It's a lifestyle... there will also be businesses here... there will be villas here, people can live here. It's all encompassing...
Sheikh Mohammed: Yes, you are absolutely right. Look at it as a city, all together. Here in Dubai, in the UAE, we don't just make projects where buildings go up. It's a way of life as you said. It's how people can do business, (take) pleasure and live here... shopping, everything will be in Meydan.
Interviewer: You bring to this two different roles because you are the Ruler of Dubai, but you are also an elite athlete and a world champion. Which parts of you play out when you come to the realization that, ''this is my dream as an athlete, this is really what I want to achieve, and the reality is I must manage it this way?''
Sheikh Mohammed: Yes I think you only look as the Ruler of Dubai or as the Prime Minister of the UAE... you look at it differently. But, when I look at Meydan I look at it as an athlete myself and what we want and what the other athletes want to find. And that's why it is successful.