Gabriel resigns from Dubai Racing Club

Frank Gabriel Jr. has resigned his position as executive director of racing at the Dubai Racing Club.

Gabriel issued a brief statement and said he was leaving Dubai and “returning to the U.S. with my wife, Christine, to enjoy our time and our home in Bonita Springs, Florida.

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Gabriel, 65, worked 15 years for the Dubai Racing Club and has been the key figure in organizing planning for the Dubai World Cup Carnival and the Dubai World Cup. Gabriel also was instrumental in the shift of the World Cup venue from Nad al Sheba to palatial Meydan Racecourse and helped oversee the construction and opening of Meydan in 2010.

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Gabriel was CEO of the Dubai Racing Club until early 2014, when he departed to briefly serve as a racing secretary for NYRA. Gabriel resigned that position and returned later the same year to the United Arab Emirates to assume the role of vice president of racing for the Dubai Racing Club before moving into the position he occupied until his retirement.

“I have thoroughly appreciated my experience and would like to thank His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum for the opportunity to do so. A special gratitude to all the staff I have worked with over the years who made our team-driving goals achievable,” Gabriel said in his statement.

Gabriel, the son of a racing official, went to Dubai after a long term at Arlington, where he was racing secretary and director of racing. Gabriel has been very active in international racing circles and is a member of the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities, serving on that body’s International Grading and Race Planning Advisory Committee.