Meydan stages its first meeting of the season on Thursday and the spotlight is likely to focus on former Godolphin trainer Mahmoud Al Zarooni.
Al Zarooni returns to the racecourse having served an eight-year ban for a doping case after the British Horseracing Association disciplinary committee found him guilty in April 2013.
The Emirati, who saddled 12 Group 1 winners in less than four years when based in Newmarket, admitted being in breach of the rules of racing after 11 horses at Godolphin's Moulton Paddocks Stables tested positive for anabolic steroids.
“I have to rebuild my reputation,” Al Zarooni told the Racing Post on his return to training. “What I did was a big mistake. I learned a lot of lessons and now I have to prove myself again and show this mistake will not happen again.
“I should have been banned, for the mistake I made I deserved a ban, 100 per cent. I don't disagree. I should have been punished, but I disagreed with the length.
“I thought they would ban me for two or three years, maximum four. When they said eight, I felt it was very harsh.”
Al Zarooni has two runners – Major Cinnamon and Midnight Deal - entered in Meydan’s seven-race thoroughbred card.
Major Cinnamon won his first race in 10 starts over the 1,200-metre trip at Meydan when trained by Marwan Abdul Rahman, now Al Zarooni’s assistant.
Midnight Deal runs in the concluding maiden. The Ghostzapper colt has a second and third-place finish in seven starts.
“I went through a very difficult time, I had no income and I have a family and children,” Al Zarooni said.
“They want to live, to eat, to go to school, to do many things. I had to manage and control things as much as I could to carry on. I want everyone to learn from my mistake because it's very difficult when you have no income.
“I have been doing nothing. I was watching racing and reading news about horses. Hearing them in the morning, watching them work, it's special. I'm very happy I'm back doing what I like and I'll give it everything.”
Doug Watson, who saddled four winners in the season opener at Jebel Ali and bagged the solitary prize up for grabs for the thoroughbreds at Sharjah, has 12 runners across six races at the meeting.
The seven-time UAE champion trainer’s Al Qaqaa seems to be the pick of them, having run three times to finish third twice and runner-up in his last start in Dubai last season.
The four-year-old War Front gelding already has a win under his belt in six starts in the UK.
Race card:
7pm: Maiden (TB) Dh 82,500 (Dirt) 1,400m
7.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (D) 2,000m
8pm: Rated Conditions (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 1,200m
8.30pm: Rated Conditions (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 2,000m
9pm: Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (D) 1,400m
9.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 1,600m
10pm: Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (D) 1,600m
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
The Year Earth Changed
Directed by:Tom Beard
Narrated by: Sir David Attenborough
Stars: 4
In numbers
- Number of children under five will fall from 681 million in 2017 to 401m in 2100
- Over-80s will rise from 141m in 2017 to 866m in 2100
- Nigeria will become the world’s second most populous country with 791m by 2100, behind India
- China will fall dramatically from a peak of 2.4 billion in 2024 to 732 million by 2100
- an average of 2.1 children per woman is required to sustain population growth
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20The%20Cloud%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202018%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20George%20Karam%20and%20Kamil%20Rogalinski%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hub71%2C%20Abu%20Dhabi%2C%20UAE%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Food%20technology%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%20size%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2410m%2B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Middle%20East%20Venture%20Partners%2C%20Olayan%20Financing%2C%20Rua%20Growth%20Fund%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
UAE central contracts
Full time contracts
Rohan Mustafa, Ahmed Raza, Mohammed Usman, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Sultan Ahmed, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Waheed Ahmed, Zawar Farid
Part time contracts
Aryan Lakra, Ansh Tandon, Karthik Meiyappan, Rahul Bhatia, Alishan Sharafu, CP Rizwaan, Basil Hameed, Matiullah, Fahad Nawaz, Sanchit Sharma
