Godophin trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni with Rewilding at the Moulton Paddocks in Newmarket, UK.
Godophin trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni with Rewilding at the Moulton Paddocks in Newmarket, UK.
Godophin trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni with Rewilding at the Moulton Paddocks in Newmarket, UK.
Godophin trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni with Rewilding at the Moulton Paddocks in Newmarket, UK.

Sport

Al Zarooni looks to add to UAE delight for Emirati trainers

It has been a stellar year for Emirati trainers, with Saeed bin Suroor crowned the Dubai Carnival's leading trainer and Ali al Raihe likely to receive the UAE title.

Geoffrey Riddle

March 24, 2011

  • English
  • Arabic

DUBAI // It has been a stellar year for Emirati trainers, with Saeed bin Suroor crowned the Dubai Carnival's leading trainer and Ali al Raihe likely to receive the UAE title.

Their success has been an inspiration to Mahmood al Zarooni, the Godolphin trainer who has benefited from working previously under both men.

Al Zarooni, a 34-year-old who was born on the Deira side of Dubai Creek, will saddle eight horses on World Cup day.

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• Dubai World Cup favourite Twice Over will have to start wide
• Sheikh Mohammed's reach spans all corners of horse racing
• Bin Suroor hopes to buck the Dubai Derby trend with his filly
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"I am very happy for Emirati trainers. I like to see them not only perform in Dubai, but also around the world," he said yesterday at Godolphin's Al Quoz stables. "I am from Dubai, I am representing my country and if they send me to the moon I would be happy to represent them."

Al Zarooni shot to prominence last year when he won the Godolphin Mile with Calming Influence, his first runner as a trainer. It illustrated that the pupil had learnt from his former masters, and 12 months on he appears to hold a leading chance of a repeat victory in the race.

Al Zarooni's skills were tested to the limit this season by Rileyskeepingfaith, who was transferred to the Godolphin fold having finished 15th of 17 for Mick Channon in October. Eyebrows were raised when he joined Godolphin, but with a little perseverance, and a little help it seems, the five-year-old vies for favouritism with Red Jazz and stablemate Skysurfers.

"When he arrived I looked at his form and as he had been running over six furlongs we tried him over it," al Zarooni said. "He finished second. We thought it might be the surface, so we tried him over the Tapeta over the same distance, but he kept getting chased along from the stalls.

"I went to his Highness and he said the horse was not being given the chance to travel. We went from six furlongs up to a mile and he won the race nicely."

Rewilding is another that holds an excellent chance for al Zarooni.

The four-year-old, who lines up in the Sheema Classic, has not seen a racecourse since finishing sixth at the St Leger in England in September, and was not among the 38 horses that worked in front of the media glare yesterday morning.

"I felt bad because we didn't know what the problem was," said al Zarooni of Rewilding's disappointing run at Doncaster. "We took him back home and found nothing.

"We took him to the vet to check him, but it seems that it was not his day. I think he needs to be fresh, which is why he has had a lay-off."

THE BIO

Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979

Education: UAE University, Al Ain

Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6

Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma

Favourite book: Science and geology

Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC

Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.

Saudi National Day
Who's who in Yemen conflict

Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government

Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council

Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south

Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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