Hurricane Lane lands the St Leger on day Godolphin cross 7,000 global wins

Hurricane Lane provided double joy for Godolphin on Saturday by winning the St Leger after Dubai’s racing operation crossed the 7,000-winner milestone earlier in the day.

The Charlie Appleby-trained colt was completing a Group 1 hat-trick following victories in the Irish Derby and Grand Prix de Paris to take his career record to six wins from seven starts.

Stepping up in distance to a mile and three-quarter for the first time, Hurricane Lane was a class act at the Doncaster Racecourse.

William Buick held Hurricane Lane in the middle of the pack in the 10-runner field before stepping on the gas two furlongs from home to win comfortably ahead of Mojo Star and The Mediterranean by two and three-quarter lengths and two lengths respectively.

“It was a fantastic performance,” Appleby said. “It's great to win any Classic, but to win the final Classic and such an historic race is extra special.

“The great thing about this horse is he quickens. For a staying horse he has a gear change. I thought it was a great performance and the Derby form has held up as well with Mojo Star running a great race in second.

“I have to give a lot of credit to the team at home,” Appleby said. “He has given us a couple of days where he has challenged us. He is a boy. He sometimes likes to do things his own way in the mornings.”

Hurricane Lane may now head for the Group 1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe along with stable companion Adayar, who beat him in the Derby for his only defeat.

“I think it's something we'll definitely keep an eye on. We'll let the dust settle, but I see no reason why we won't go,” Appleby said.

Hurricane Lane became Godolphin’s 7,002nd winner and takes their Group 1 tally to 346, since the racing operation of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, was founded in 1992.

“He was the class horse in the race and the race worked out beautifully,” Buick said. “He took me into the race so nicely and he had that turn of foot at the end. He's a great horse and it was lovely to win the Leger with him. I knew I was on the best horse and it was just a case of keeping it smooth and not setting him too hard a task.”

Testimonial, trained by James Cummings and ridden by Christian Reith, earlier in the day won a maiden for the three-year-olds at Golburn in Melbourne to reach that landmark for the royal blues.

It was her first win in eight starts, which was followed by another Cumming’s runner, Anamoe, winning the Group 2 Run To The Rose at Kemble Grange in New South Wales.

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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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2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight

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4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own

5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed

Hurricane Lane lands the St Leger on day Godolphin cross 7,000 global wins

Charlie Appleby-trained colt completes hat-trick of Group 1 prizes with victory at Doncaster Racecourse

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WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?