Sport

Djet Taouy triumphs at Newbury

French jockey David Michaux and his mount held off favourite Nashmi by one and a quarter lengths.

Geoffrey Riddle

June 01, 2014

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London // Djet Taouy is on course for another attempt to win the biggest prize in Purebred Arabian racing after a comfortable success in the HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup at Newbury on Saturday night.

French jockey David Michaux was barely pressed at the line as his mount held off favourite Nashmi by one-and-a-quarter lengths.

Shadiya was third, and Djakbar Des Forges was the first of Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid’s four runners in fifth behind Nerbah.

Djet Taouy won last season’s prestigious President Of The UAE Cup in July and winning trainer Jean-Francois Bernard did not rule out a defence of the Group 1 race before a tilt at the €700,000 (Dh3.5 million) Qatar Arabian World Cup at Longchamp in October in which he was fourth last season to Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed’s Mushrae.

“It’s a well-deserved victory and for the jockey on board who gave him every chance to show his best,” Bernard said. “Djet Taouy recaptured his true form and reputation as a top-class racehorse. “His obvious target is the World Cup on Arc day in October, but big races at Newbury, Deauville and Chantilly are also on the agenda.”

Djet Taouy is owned by the Royal Cavalry of Oman, having previously been trained in Holland by Diana Dorenberg, and his victory added to that of the fellow Omani-owned Marif, who won the HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship race.

Marif, ridden by Brazilian professional Jeane Alves, beat Sophia to the line by a length and a quarter with Suhaim a full seven lengths back in third.

As is custom, Alves will be allocated a berth for the final in Abu Dhabi in November.

In Chantilly, The Grey Gatsby gave a huge boost to the form of the Dante Stakes with a stylish victory in the Prix du Jockey Club – the French Derby.

The Grey Gatsby beat True Story into third at York 18 days ago, with Keiren Fallon set to ride the Godolphin colt in the English Derby at Epsom on Saturday.

The Grey Gatsby beat the Aga Khan’s Shamkiyr, and Prince Gibraltar. Godolphin France’s Earnshaw finished out of the frame.

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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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Geoffrey RiddleHH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan CupHorse racingADM