French journeyman Ryan Curatolo rode his first winner in the UAE when making all on Zuhoor in the silks of the President Sheikh Khalifa in the season’s third meeting at Sharjah on Saturday.
He finally tasted success on his tenth attempt. Curatolo had five rides at Al Ain’s curtain raiser on Thursday and three in Jebel Ali the following day.
He came close for his first winner in the Emirates twice when runner up at the two venues and trailed the 16-runner field in Sharjah’s opener before leading a one-two finish for the Al Asayl trainer Eric Lemartinel in the third race..
Curatolo, 28, has ridden more than 500 winners across the United States, Japan, Macau, Singapore and in the Middle East. He arrived in Dubai as retained jockey for Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid’s Jebel Ali Stables trainer Nicholas Bachalard.
The remaining five prizes were shared with trainers Majed Al Jahouri, Eric Lemartinel, Jean de Roualle and Ahmed Al Shemaili getting into the winner’s enclosure for the first time in the season.
Al Jahouri deemed Atrash’s victory under Pat Cosgrave in the second race a good start.
“He’s run well on this course,” the Emirati said. “He was runner up in his first start and then won next time last season. He was 90 per cent coming into this race and we were hopeful, and he won well at the end.”
Ernst Oertel and the eight-time UAE champion jockey Tadhg O’Shea combined to take the opener with AF Sail.
Richard Mullen, on board De Roualle’s Bassaam, took the fourth race and Fernando Jara was next into the winner’s enclosure on board Mohamed Daggash’s ES Nahawand.
Adrie de Vries produced a strong finish on Al Shemaili’s Miniature to beat Naaeeb by a neck to deny Jara of completing a double at the meeting in the concluding thoroughbred handicap.
Meanwhile, Doug Watson couldn’t have wished for a better start to the new season.
The Red Stables trainer racked up a quick treble from the runners he entered across four races at Jebel Ali’s opening meeting on Friday.
Sam Hitchcock rode Guernsey and Dark Thunder to victories in the first two races before Pat Dobbs brought Mystique Moon home in the third race to complete the hat-trick.
Guernsey was picking up his first prize in 16 local starts. He has run consistently well throughout the last two seasons and was runner up four times before getting his head in front after a tussle to the finishing line with Rich And Famous.
if you go
The flights
Air Astana flies direct from Dubai to Almaty from Dh2,440 per person return, and to Astana (via Almaty) from Dh2,930 return, both including taxes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Ritz-Carlton Almaty cost from Dh1,944 per night including taxes; and in Astana the new Ritz-Carlton Astana (www.marriott) costs from Dh1,325; alternatively, the new St Regis Astana costs from Dh1,458 per night including taxes.
When to visit
March-May and September-November
Visas
Citizens of many countries, including the UAE do not need a visa to enter Kazakhstan for up to 30 days. Contact the nearest Kazakhstan embassy or consulate.
So what is Spicy Chickenjoy?
Just as McDonald’s has the Big Mac, Jollibee has Spicy Chickenjoy – a piece of fried chicken that’s crispy and spicy on the outside and comes with a side of spaghetti, all covered in tomato sauce and topped with sausage slices and ground beef. It sounds like a recipe that a child would come up with, but perhaps that’s the point – a flavourbomb combination of cheap comfort foods. Chickenjoy is Jollibee’s best-selling product in every country in which it has a presence.
$1,000 award for 1,000 days on madrasa portal
Daily cash awards of $1,000 dollars will sweeten the Madrasa e-learning project by tempting more pupils to an education portal to deepen their understanding of math and sciences.
School children are required to watch an educational video each day and answer a question related to it. They then enter into a raffle draw for the $1,000 prize.
“We are targeting everyone who wants to learn. This will be $1,000 for 1,000 days so there will be a winner every day for 1,000 days,” said Sara Al Nuaimi, project manager of the Madrasa e-learning platform that was launched on Tuesday by the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, to reach Arab pupils from kindergarten to grade 12 with educational videos.
“The objective of the Madrasa is to become the number one reference for all Arab students in the world. The 5,000 videos we have online is just the beginning, we have big ambitions. Today in the Arab world there are 50 million students. We want to reach everyone who is willing to learn.”
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
match info
Southampton 2 (Ings 32' & pen 89') Tottenham Hotspur 5 (Son 45', 47', 64', & 73', Kane 82')
Man of the match Son Heung-min (Tottenham)
