The first of Al Asayl’s two Frankel juveniles lodged with Hugo Palmer in Newmarket take to the turf in competitive action at Haydock with Majoris set to face 13 rivals in the British Stallion Studs EBF Novice Stakes on Friday.
Majoris will sport the red and black starred silks of President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed’s operation and will be ridden by William Buick.
Frankel is the highest-rated horse ever to grace a racecourse, and was unbeaten in 14 starts before retiring in 2012.
Cunco, the first of his foals, ran at Newbury a fortnight ago and, fittingly for the legendary sire, won. Majoris, who was foaled on Valentine’s Day two years ago out of the beautifully bred but unsuccessful mare Drops, is not certain to appreciate Friday’s distance of 1,200 metres and could be seen to better effect over further.
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“This will be an important part of his education,” Palmer said. “I don’t think we expect him to win as this could be too short for him, but because we really like him it wouldn’t be a shock if he did.
“He came to me in December. He has been straightforward to train and has been very willing in his work and is very well balanced. Hopefully he will have a similar attitude at the races.”
Majoris was bred by Al Asayl, and is one of around 10 horses at Palmer’s Kremlin Cottage Stables owned by Sheikh Khalifa. Of those, Tsavo also shares Frankel as his sire.
“He is a long way off getting to the racecourse, but he is very nice,” Palmer added. “Of the three Frankels I have, the other is owned by Al Shaqab. Tsavo looks most like his father. He is much bigger than the other two and has not yet been asked to gallop.
“Majoris is more like Cunco, a smaller more compact type. I’m hoping for a nice introduction, but we haven’t wound him up to win first time out. He’s ready to start, but it’s a stepping stone for where we want to go.”
The seventh World Arabian Horse Racing Conference opened in Rome on Thursday.
His Excellency Saqr Naser Al Raisi, the UAE Ambassador to Italy, welcomed over 500 delegates from nearly 100 countries for the three-day annual event.
“We have to hail the support of the leadership of the UAE, who have led from the front in helping the heritage sport of the country grow,” he said.
“And with this Arabian racing has gained tremendously. We hope this conference adds to the growth and progress of the sport all over the globe.”
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Sinopharm vaccine explained
The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.
"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."
This is then injected into the body.
"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.
"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."
The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.
Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.
“Since it is inactivated, it will not last forever," she said.
From Europe to the Middle East, economic success brings wealth - and lifestyle diseases
A rise in obesity figures and the need for more public spending is a familiar trend in the developing world as western lifestyles are adopted.
One in five deaths around the world is now caused by bad diet, with obesity the fastest growing global risk. A high body mass index is also the top cause of metabolic diseases relating to death and disability in Kuwait, Qatar and Oman – and second on the list in Bahrain.
In Britain, heart disease, lung cancer and Alzheimer’s remain among the leading causes of death, and people there are spending more time suffering from health problems.
The UK is expected to spend $421.4 billion on healthcare by 2040, up from $239.3 billion in 2014.
And development assistance for health is talking about the financial aid given to governments to support social, environmental development of developing countries.
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'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
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