Bhupat Seemar has taken an easier route for his Dubai World Cup winner Laurel River's first run of the season after scooping the $12 million prize last March.
The Zabeel Stables trainer has the seven-year-old son of Into Mischief lined up in the Group 3 Firebreak Stakes run over the 1,600-metre trip in the Fashion Friday Dubai Carnival meeting at Meydan on Friday.
It was a similar race, the Group 3 Burj Nahar over the trip and track, that had his Saudi Arabian owners promptly supplementing him for the World Cup.
The plan this time around is to have a go at the $20 million Saudi Cup in February and a title defence back in Dubai in April.
“In my opinion, it’s always better to start shorter and build up. I didn’t want to train him for ten furlongs (2,000m) now as that’s a lot of extra work,” Seemar explained.
“Our goal is the Saudi Cup and the Dubai World Cup, so this is just a prep. He’s ready for it, he’s doing very, very well. He’s as fit as he can be without having had a race.”
Laurel River is ideally drawn in gate 4 and takes on nine others including a couple of winners over the track and trip in their last starts – Meshtri and Crown Estate.
The Group 1 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 is the official feature of the meeting, and it has drawn 12 entries including last year’s winner Kabirkhan.
The Doug Watson-trained five-year-old by the 2016 Dubai World Cup winner California Chrome won twice at Meydan before being unplaced in the Dubai World Cup last March.
He spent the summer in the US and is back in Dubai to be reunited with Watson, who said: “The team at WinStar Farm did a really good job with him over the summer. He seems a bit stronger this year. We’re looking forward to him.”
An interesting runner in the race is the Group 1 Dubai Turf winner Facteur Cheval being tried for the first time on dirt.
“Connections were keen to run him in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, but I was not so tempted and thought the QEII [second to Charyn] was a better race for him,” his handler Jerome Reynier said.
“The plan was to send him to Dubai for the winter and try him on dirt before the big race (Saudi Cup). He’s training really well on the surface, but it will be a very different scenario with the rhythm and the kick-back and everything.
“If he copes with conditions he will go for the Saudi Cup and the Dubai World Cup, but if he’s not in the first three he’ll go for the Singspiel Stakes on Super Saturday and then the Dubai Turf.”
Imperial Emperor, two from two for owners Deva Racing and since switching to the Meydan dirt, takes a notable step up in grade here.
“He’s up in distance and class,” said Seemar, who also runs the impressive Listed Entisar winner Walk Of Stars.
“It’s unknown territory as he’s only gone a mile before for us. He’s improved every run and taken to the dirt like a duck to water.
“We’ve come through the handicap ranks and we’re going in a big race now. He’ll have to get his big boy pants on and prove he can do it. From this race onwards, we’ll find out if he’s a World Cup horse or not."
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David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
What vitamins do we know are beneficial for living in the UAE
Vitamin D: Highly relevant in the UAE due to limited sun exposure; supports bone health, immunity and mood.
Vitamin B12: Important for nerve health and energy production, especially for vegetarians, vegans and individuals with absorption issues.
Iron: Useful only when deficiency or anaemia is confirmed; helps reduce fatigue and support immunity.
Omega-3 (EPA/DHA): Supports heart health and reduces inflammation, especially for those who consume little fish.
'Ghostbusters: From Beyond'
Director: Jason Reitman
Starring: Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace
Rating: 2/5
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
Andor
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Washmen Profile
Date Started: May 2015
Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Laundry
Employees: 170
Funding: about $8m
Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENamara%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJune%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMohammed%20Alnamara%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMicrofinance%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E16%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeries%20A%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFamily%20offices%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
