An unprecedented 10th UAE jockey’s championship title in the bag, Tadhg O’Shea - the all-time leading rider with 670 winners - is ready for a new and busy season that gets underway in Al Ain on Friday.
The Irishman is booked on all seven races at Al Ain, all six at Jebel Ali on the next day, and five out of six at Sharjah on Sunday. That’s par for the course for the busiest jockey in the UAE.
O’Shea is returning to action after an excellent season in which he rode Group 1 winner Switzerland at the Dubai Golden Shaheen on the Dubai World Cup night.
The champion jockey was humble, saying he was “very fortunate” to ride in all seven races at Al Ain.
He’s in the saddle of five Purebred Arabians for his main patron Khalid Khalifa Al Naboodah and all trained by Ernst Oertel, one for Ajban Stables and one for the champion trainer Bhupat Seemar, in the only thoroughbred race on the card.
“It’s a busy weekend to start with and, fingers crossed, I can ride some winners, hopefully,” O’Shea told The National on the eve of the season opening meeting.
“My main goal every year is to stay healthy. Of course we are here to ride as many winners as we can. We are all back to scratch and all back to zero. Let’s hope we have a very good season.”
O’Shea was challenged for the title by Antonio Fresu, but the Irishman drew clear towards the end of the season to finish with 68 winners - 10 more than the Italian.
“From December onwards, Antonio and I pulled clear of the rest of the field. It was quite tight week in and week out.
“It meant a lot to me because a lot of people told me it was Antonio’s year. I’m sure he will have his year but I wasn’t ready to let go of my championship just yet.”
O’Shea expects this season’s jockey’s title to be close with Fresu, Richard Mullen and Ray Dawson among the leading contenders.
“Antonio will be very strong and obviously Richie Mullen is always a danger and Ray Dawson had a very good first season,” said.
“There is plenty of competition out there with a lot of good riders here. For me, this time of the year is quite exciting with a lot of horses that haven’t run in the Emirates.”
O’Shea is onboard Oertel’s AF Musharek in the silks of Al Naboodah in the opener, and rides the unraced Rabih Al Reef for Al Abjan trainer Abdallah Al Hammadi half an hour later.
Seemar’s Royal Touch making his debut in the UAE is an interesting one for O’Shea in the solitary race for thoroughbreds.
The former Godolphin inmate and Dubawi gelding returns to the racetrack for his first run in more than 19 months.
O’Shea's remaining rides are AF Saleet, Masar, AF Al Baher and AF Thayer, all trained by Oertel for champion owner Al Naboodah.
AL Ain card 2022-23 season opener
5pm: Wathba Stallions Cup (PA) Maiden Dh70,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,400m
6pm: Handicap (TB) Dh50,000 (D) 1,600m
6.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,600m
7pm: Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,600m
7.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (D) 1,800m
8pm: Conditions (PA) Dh85,000 (D) 1,000m
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How to play the stock market recovery in 2021?
If you are looking to build your long-term wealth in 2021 and beyond, the stock market is still the best place to do it as equities powered on despite the pandemic.
Investing in individual stocks is not for everyone and most private investors should stick to mutual funds and ETFs, but there are some thrilling opportunities for those who understand the risks.
Peter Garnry, head of equity strategy at Saxo Bank, says the 20 best-performing US and European stocks have delivered an average return year-to-date of 148 per cent, measured in local currency terms.
Online marketplace Etsy was the best performer with a return of 330.6 per cent, followed by communications software company Sinch (315.4 per cent), online supermarket HelloFresh (232.8 per cent) and fuel cells specialist NEL (191.7 per cent).
Mr Garnry says digital companies benefited from the lockdown, while green energy firms flew as efforts to combat climate change were ramped up, helped in part by the European Union’s green deal.
Electric car company Tesla would be on the list if it had been part of the S&P 500 Index, but it only joined on December 21. “Tesla has become one of the most valuable companies in the world this year as demand for electric vehicles has grown dramatically,” Mr Garnry says.
By contrast, the 20 worst-performing European stocks fell 54 per cent on average, with European banks hit by the economic fallout from the pandemic, while cruise liners and airline stocks suffered due to travel restrictions.
As demand for energy fell, the oil and gas industry had a tough year, too.
Mr Garnry says the biggest story this year was the “absolute crunch” in so-called value stocks, companies that trade at low valuations compared to their earnings and growth potential.
He says they are “heavily tilted towards financials, miners, energy, utilities and industrials, which have all been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic”. “The last year saw these cheap stocks become cheaper and expensive stocks have become more expensive.”
This has triggered excited talk about the “great value rotation” but Mr Garnry remains sceptical. “We need to see a breakout of interest rates combined with higher inflation before we join the crowd.”
Always remember that past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. Last year’s winners often turn out to be this year’s losers, and vice-versa.
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