Dubai World Cup

Last weekend was the first time after several years that I went to the Dubai World Cup.  I could never quite understand the hype.  It is world's richest horse race with a payout of $6 million for THE Cup, and a total of $22 million paid out throughout the night.  It is one of the most expensive sporting events in the world.

This is a big deal if you have anything to do with horse racing.  However, I was most perplexed by the majority who dress up and go to an event where they sit around and drink all afternoon and never see a single horse.  Sometimes events are fun, but in this case as the day progressed, it was not pretty.  This along with the challenges for parking, organization and waiting forever for a taxi to get home were not appealing.

Years later, we decided to give it a try.  We were on the fence until the last minute.  So late, that I found our tickets the day before.  We arrived at the Meydan, the new racetrack that opened in 2010 and it did not feel like the typical race day I had observed before.  There was parking available, the line to get in seemed well managed and the place was huge.  In short, I can say this new venue is amazing.  And the best feature of all, you can enjoy the races.

As usual, it is a great place to people watch - and hat watch.  I never understood the hat fascination.  Some internet research tells me that this tradition started because there was a strict dress code at the Royal Enclosure at Royal Ascot in the UK.  All males had to wear full "morning dress" including a top hat.  Ladies could not show bare midriffs or shoulders and had to wear hats.  On race day here you will see a lot of shoulders and possibly mid-drifts, but more than that you will see hats of all shapes and sizes.

Below are a few interesting hats from last weekend.  It was fun and I will definitely go again.

Honestly, the above was one of my favorite looks.  I thought it looked so elegant.

Love the images where you cannot see the face because of the hat.

These ladies were a pair that attracted a lot of attention.  "Hats" made from hair.  Burj Khalifa and a horse.  The girl with the horse said it was a tribute to Sheikh Mohammed as he loves horses.  I believe the Burj was a tribute to Dubai.

This was cute and she wore it well.

There was a Japanese group enjoying the races in their local dress.  Loved them.

By the end of the evening, we were inspired to wear our hat to the side!