Stock rises after Pacific Classic victory
Godolphin left to lament poor start as It's Tricky finishes third in Saratoga race
Geoffrey Riddle
Dullahan struck a blow for the three-year-old division in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Sunday night and in the process set up a tilt at the Breeders' Cup and a possible trip to Dubai next year.
America's Classic crop have been decimated by injury and after Dullahan had run down the five-year-old Game On Dude to snatch the $1 million (Dh3.67m) Pacific Classic by half a length under Joel Rosario connections were keen to highlight the colt's durability.
"We've had all kinds of fancy three year olds - fast, brilliant, exciting three year olds - retired to stud because they couldn't hold them together," Jerry Crawford, the racing manager to owners Donegral Racing Partnership, said. "This horse is as sound as any horse we've ever campaigned. I hope that at some point people are going to say, 'Maybe horse racing would be a better activity if we bred to sound horses'."
Dullahan was third to I'll Have Another and Bodemeister in the Kentucky Derby at Churchills Downs in May, but both of those colts have been retired because of injury. With several other injuries to the likes of Union Rags and Hansen, Crawford believes that there is not a better three year old in training in the US.
"Coming here and beating Richard's Kid and Game On Dude stamps him as the three-year-old horse of the year,'' Crawford said. "He and I'll Have Another each have three Grade 1 victories, but only Dullahan is still racing.''
The Pacific Classic is a 'Win and You're In' race for the Breeders' Cup Classic and having become just the fourth three year old to win the 10 furlong event in its 22-year history it is clear Dullahan is of the highest class.
The Breeders' Cup Classic, run at Santa Anita on November 3, will be staged on dirt, a surface over which Dullahan has never won.
The Pacific Classic was run over a temperature sensitive Polytrack surface, much like the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes and Futurity at Keeneland which Dullahan also won.
As such Meydan Racecourse's Tapeta surface should hold no fears for the son of Even The Score, and with his trainer Dale Romans already having won the Dubai World Cup in 2005 with Roses In May, Dullahan has no better guide.
"There's nobody else in the country that's won three Grade 1s on any surface and placed in graded stakes on the turf and the dirt, including finishing third in the Kentucky Derby," Crawford said. "I would respectfully say the question with Dullahan is what surface can't he run on, not what surface can he run on.''
Over in Saratoga, Love And Pride, trained by Todd Pletcher and ridden by John Velazquez, won the Grade 1 Personal Ensign Invitational.
Godolphin's It's Tricky was third for the trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, after she scraped the dirt with her nose once the gates opened.
"She got up and ran her heart out. It's very unfortunate," McLaughlin said. "I'm really proud of her. I feel like we were the best today had we broke well, but congratulations to the winner."
sports@thenational.ae
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
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.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPowertrain%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESingle%20electric%20motor%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E201hp%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E310Nm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESingle-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBattery%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E53kWh%20lithium-ion%20battery%20pack%20(GS%20base%20model)%3B%2070kWh%20battery%20pack%20(GF)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETouring%20range%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E350km%20(GS)%3B%20480km%20(GF)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh129%2C900%20(GS)%3B%20Dh149%2C000%20(GF)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
