Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, the Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, won the Ribblesdale Stakes at Royal Ascot yesterday.
The Godolphin-trained Hibaayeb defeated Eldalil, the horse owned by Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid, to land Saeed bin Suroor, the trainer, back-to-back victories in the Group Two race for fillies.
After the victory of Flying Cloud 12 months ago, confidence in the Godolphin camp was high ahead of the race and Frankie Dettori gave his mount a copybook ride, sitting in the perfect position throughout before taking over from Principal Role a furlong and a half out. She was three and three-quarter lengths clear of Eldalil at the line with Gallic Star staying on for third.
"She was really disappointing in the Guineas where she didn't really run a yard," Simon Crisford, the Godolphin racing manager, said. "We were pretty surprised by that so we decided to go for the Prix Saint-Alary at Longchamp and she ran really well to finish third.
"We could have easily gone for the Investec Oaks after that but we felt that Epsom would be tough enough coming so quickly after France and decided to wait until Royal Ascot.
"That was Sheikh Mohammed's decision - he felt that we had a better chance here than in the Investec Oaks. Now we will try our luck in the Darley Irish Oaks (the Curragh, July 18). She travelled so well throughout the race and she always looked like the winner. It was really satisfying to see her win and really rewarding that they do well at three having done so well at two. It is great for the sire Singspiel - Hibaayeb is a homebred.
Dettori added: "I think that the distance was the difference today - she relished a mile and a half. She won the Fillies' Mile here in the autumn so we knew that she liked the track and the stiff mile and a half is what she wanted. The further we went, the further she was going to win.
"I know my way round here but I had the horse to do it. They went very quick for the first four furlongs. I got her to relax in a nice position on the rail and by the time I got to the turn for home, I had most of them covered. I found a clear passage and asked her to go and she made it look easy for me."
Hibaayeb was Godolphin's fifth winner of the Ribblesdale Stakes, following on from Bahr (1998), Fairy Queen (1999), Punctilious (2004) and Flying Cloud (2009).
Angus Gold, racing manager to Sheikh Hamdan, the Minister of Finance, said: "That was a big step up [for Eldalil] and I don't know if it was lack of experience or whatever but she was slowly into her stride and got further back than one would have liked."
Dettori felt the Group Two Norfolk Stakes "came too soon" for Godolphin's Al Aasifh who showed good early pace before fading to finish ninth.
Elsewhere, the Godolphin pair of Kite Wood and Darley Sun failed to make an impact in the Group One Gold Cup, finishing seventh and ninth respectively. Rite of Passage was the surprise winner.
* Agencies
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
The Birkin bag is made by Hermès.
It is named after actress and singer Jane Birkin
Noone from Hermès will go on record to say how much a new Birkin costs, how long one would have to wait to get one, and how many bags are actually made each year.
The biog
First Job: Abu Dhabi Department of Petroleum in 1974
Current role: Chairperson of Al Maskari Holding since 2008
Career high: Regularly cited on Forbes list of 100 most powerful Arab Businesswomen
Achievement: Helped establish Al Maskari Medical Centre in 1969 in Abu Dhabi’s Western Region
Future plan: Will now concentrate on her charitable work
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Brief scoreline:
Wolves 3
Neves 28', Doherty 37', Jota 45' 2
Arsenal 1
Papastathopoulos 80'
