Jockey William Buick riding the Charlie Appleby-trained Godolphin hope D'bai. Erika Rasmussen / The National
Jockey William Buick riding the Charlie Appleby-trained Godolphin hope D'bai. Erika Rasmussen / The National
Jockey William Buick riding the Charlie Appleby-trained Godolphin hope D'bai. Erika Rasmussen / The National
Jockey William Buick riding the Charlie Appleby-trained Godolphin hope D'bai. Erika Rasmussen / The National

Charlie Appleby eyes Zabeel Mile hat-trick at Dubai World Cup Carnival


Amith Passela
  • English
  • Arabic

RACE CARD

6.30pm: Handicap (TB) $68,000 (Dirt) 1,600m

7.05pm: Meydan Sprint – Group 2 (TB) $163,000 (Turf) 1,000m

7.40pm: Curlin Stakes – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (D) 2,200m

8.15pm: UAE Oaks – Group 3 (TB) $125,000 (D) 1,900m

8.50pm: Zabeel Mile – Group 2 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,600m

9.25pm: Balanchine – Group 2 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,800m

10pm: Al Shindagha Sprint – Group 3 (TB) $130,000 (D) 1,200m

Godolphin trainer Charlie Appleby is eyeing a third consecutive Zabeel Mile at Dubai World Cup Carnival Week 5 at Meydan on Thursday.

Appleby has three runners in the 11-strong field that also includes Godolphin senior trainer Saeed bin Suroor’s Bedouin’s Story.

Jockey William Buick has chosen D’Bai from the Appleby yard. A Carnival regular, the seven-year-old Dubawi gelding was runner-up in the 1,400m Group 2 Al Fahidi Fort, a race he won in 2019, on his reappearance.

Art du Val (James Doyle) and Velorum (Mickael Barzalona) are Appleby’s two other runners in the race.

“D’Bai ran a very creditable race in the Al Fahidi Fort,” Appleby told the Godolphin website.

“The step up to a mile isn’t too much of a concern, bearing in mind he has won over the distance at Ascot and Pontefract in his younger days. He has never won over shorter than seven furlongs and we feel that his style of racing will be suited to this distance.

“Art du Val put up a solid performance in the Singspiel Stakes, when it looked as though he didn’t quite see out the nine furlongs.

“Velorum was definitely in need of his seasonal return in the Al Fahidi Fort and has come forward for the run. He is an unexposed horse and we are confident that he can be competitive at this level.”

Bin Suroor added: “Bedouin’s Story won nicely at Meydan last time, when he came from the rear under Frankie Dettori. This is a significant step up in class but the mile at Meydan suits him well and we are looking forward to seeing him run another decent race.”

Godolphin also looks to hold leading chances in both the night’s other Group 2 contests on the turf.

Althiqa (Buick) aims to become the fourth consecutive filly in the royal blue silks to follow up victory in the Group 2 Cape Verdi with success in the Group 2 Balanchine.

The Appleby-trained four-year-old stretches out to nine furlongs for the first time following an impressive display in the mile feature on week two of the Carnival.

“We had a question mark over Althiqa getting a mile going into the Cape Verdi but she saw it out well,” Appleby said of the Dark Angel filly.

“Nine furlongs with a penalty is another question but she is the class filly in the field and goes into this in great order.”

Appleby also sends out Summer Romance, fifth in the Cape Verdi.

“That was a bit disappointing from Summer Romance in the Cape Verdi, but she has worked well since and we will race her in a hood. The trip should suit her,” he added.

Bin Suroor has also a pair entered in the race. Dubai Love is the choice of Dettori, and Last Look, who were third and eighth respectively in the Cape Verdi.

“Dubai Love is a tough filly with a touch of class as she displayed winning last year’s UAE 1000 Guineas,” the Emirati said.

“The 1,800m should really suit her and she is in great form. Last Look is a full-sister to Farhh and from a family that improves with age, so this step up in trip looks in her favour.”

Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015

- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France

THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick

Hometown: Cologne, Germany

Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)

Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes

Favourite hobby: Football

Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk

How the bonus system works

The two riders are among several riders in the UAE to receive the top payment of £10,000 under the Thank You Fund of £16 million (Dh80m), which was announced in conjunction with Deliveroo's £8 billion (Dh40bn) stock market listing earlier this year.

The £10,000 (Dh50,000) payment is made to those riders who have completed the highest number of orders in each market.

There are also riders who will receive payments of £1,000 (Dh5,000) and £500 (Dh2,500).

All riders who have worked with Deliveroo for at least one year and completed 2,000 orders will receive £200 (Dh1,000), the company said when it announced the scheme.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EQureos%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EUAE%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ELaunch%20year%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2021%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E33%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESoftware%20and%20technology%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%243%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
India squad

Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, K.L. Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Shami, Shardul Thakur.

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.”

The Freedom Artist

By Ben Okri (Head of Zeus)

The President's Cake

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
RACE CARD

6.30pm: Handicap (TB) $68,000 (Dirt) 1,600m

7.05pm: Meydan Sprint – Group 2 (TB) $163,000 (Turf) 1,000m

7.40pm: Curlin Stakes – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (D) 2,200m

8.15pm: UAE Oaks – Group 3 (TB) $125,000 (D) 1,900m

8.50pm: Zabeel Mile – Group 2 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,600m

9.25pm: Balanchine – Group 2 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,800m

10pm: Al Shindagha Sprint – Group 3 (TB) $130,000 (D) 1,200m