Malaysian builder WCT Engineering Bhd and its Middle Eastern partner have won a 4.5 billion ringgit ($1.29 billion) contract to build a horse-racing course in Dubai, the Edge weekly said.

The new racecourse is set to replace Dubai's existing Nad Al Sheba course, home of the Dubai World Cup, and is part a wider plan unveiled this year for a 'horse-racing city' at Meydan.

WCT Engineering has built Formula 1 race tracks in Malaysia and Bahrain and is developing another F1 circuit in Abu Dhabi.

The company had bid for the Dubai contract in a joint venture with Arebtec Construction of the UAE, the Edge said, quoting sources.