Meydan race card
6.30pm: Maiden; Dh165,000; (Dirt) 1,200m
7.05pm: Handicap; Dh170,000; (D) 1,200m
7.40pm: Maiden; Dh165,000; (D) 1,900m
8.15pm: Handicap; Dh185,000; (D) 2,000m
8.50pm: Handicap; Dh185,000; (D) 1,600m
9.25pm: Handicap; Dh165,000; (D) 2,000m
Meydan prepares to mark the Dubai World Cup silver jubilee next March by staging the season’s opening meeting for the first time since the flagship racecourse opened in 2010.
As racing returns for another season on Thursday night, a few changes have taken place but none as notable as the new roles of the UAE champion jockey Tadhg O’Shea.
The Irishman, who last season moved out on his own as as the country's all-time leading jockey with 511 career wins, has joined the Jebel Ali Stables as the retained rider for trainer Nicholas Bachalard.
Busy as ever, the seven-time UAE champion O'Shea also continues to be the first choice jockey for the UAE champion trainer-owner combo of Ernst Oertel and Khalid Khalifa Al Naboodah at the Desert 1 Stables.
“It works out well for me because at Jebel Ali I’ll be riding thoroughbreds and the Arabians for Ernst and Khalid,” O'Shea said.
“For me to be offered a job at Jebel Ali was a huge honour and I’m grateful. I’ll do all I can to justify the faith they have put in me.”
O’Shea, 37, equalled Ted Durcan's record of seven UAE jockey’s titles last season and is chasing a third-straight crown this term.
“Records are good and I’m happy as and when it comes but like every season, I start from scratch,” O’Shea said.
“I don’t want to say that I want to win this and that. I don’t want to set personal goals because when you do that, you may end up with many disappointments.”
O'Shea has a busy opening night as he is booked in all six races at Meydan on Thursday. He rides Laa Baas in a race for two-year-olds in the first race and later partners Top Clearance (4th race) and Giant Hero (5th), all for Bachalard.
In-between he will be aboard Satish Seemar’s Midlander, Blue Sovereign for Erwan Charpy and Jaber Ramadan’s Litigation in the concluding handicap.
The opener that has drawn seven runners of the classic generation looks the most interesting of the six races.
Last year Walking Thunder, trained by Ahmad bin Harmash, won it in the silks of the Phoenix Ladies Syndicate before going on to clinch the 2000 Guineas Trial.
The same connections send out Mambo Mischief, a son of one of the top dirt sires in the world, Into Mischief, who was purchased for $150,000 (Dh551,000) at the OBS April sale in Ocala, Florida.
O’Shea wears the Jebel Ali silks of Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid, a Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up Sale purchase in April.
Also creating some buzz is Cosmo Kramer, from the same connections that provided the 2017 Al Bastakiya winner Cosmo Charlie. The Munnings colt trained by Doug Watson has the services of stable jockey Pat Dobbs.
Salem bin Ghadayer sends out Attribution, a Competitive Edge colt also sourced at the Ocala Spring Sale, where he cost $180,000.
Richard Mullen rides the Satish Seemar-trained Barack Beach while Fernando Jara gets the reins atop Al Modayar for Ali Rashid Al Raihe .
Helal Al Alawi's Puzzle Elegance completes the field with Pat Cosgrave back as the stable jockey for the Emirati trainer.
The action moves to Abu Dhabi on Friday for a six-race card made up of five prizes for the Purebred Arabians and a handicap for thoroughbreds.
The highlight is the Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Jewel Crown Prep, a Rated Conditions race over 1,600m for the Arabians.
The National selections for Thursday's meet at Meydan
6.30pm: (First choice) Attribution – (second choice) Laa Baas
7.05pm: Speedy Move – Zaajer
7.40pm: Zalmi Star – Mulfit
8.15pm: Big Brown Bear – Welford
9.50pm: George Villiers – Moqarrar
10.25pm: Hucklebuck – Cranesbill
The National’s selection for Friday's meet at Abu Dhabi
5pm: (First choice) AF Yeheeb – (second choice) Darya
5.30pm: AF Arrab – Raniah
6pm: AF La'Asae – Foaad
6.30pm: RB Lam Tara – ES Ajeeb
7pm: AF Ashras – AF Hakeem
7.30pm: Travis County – Galesburg
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Honeymoonish
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Elie%20El%20Samaan%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENour%20Al%20Ghandour%2C%20Mahmoud%20Boushahri%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The National selections
Al Ain
5pm: Bolereau
5.30pm: Rich And Famous
6pm: Duc De Faust
6.30pm: Al Thoura
7pm: AF Arrab
7.30pm: Al Jazi
8pm: Futoon
Jebel Ali
1.45pm: AF Kal Noor
2.15pm: Galaxy Road
2.45pm: Dark Thunder
3.15pm: Inverleigh
3.45pm: Bawaasil
4.15pm: Initial
4.45pm: Tafaakhor
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
More from Neighbourhood Watch
Three ways to limit your social media use
Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.
1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.
2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information.
3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.
Analysis
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The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Match info
Premier League
Manchester United 2 (Martial 30', Lingard 69')
Arsenal 2 (Mustafi 26', Rojo 68' OG)
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Donating your hair
• Your hair should be least 30 cms long, as some of the hair is lost during manufacturing of the wigs.
• Clean, dry hair in good condition (no split ends) from any gender, and of any natural colour, is required.
• Straight, wavy, curly, permed or chemically straightened is permitted.
• Dyed hair must be of a natural colour
DIVINE%20INTERVENTOIN
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Results:
Men's wheelchair 800m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 1.44.79; 2. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 1.45.88; 3. Isaac Towers (GBR) 1.46.46.
Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters
The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.
Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.
A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.
The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.
The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.
Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.
Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment
But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.
ACC%20T20%20Women%E2%80%99s%20Championship
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EUAE%20fixtures%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EFriday%2C%20June%2017%20v%20Oman%3Cbr%3ESaturday%2C%20June%2018%20v%20Singapore%3Cbr%3EMonday%2C%20June%2020%20v%20Malaysia%3Cbr%3EWednesday%2C%20June%2022%20v%20Qatar%3Cbr%3EFriday%2C%20June%2024%2C%20semi-final%3Cbr%3ESaturday%2C%20June%2025%2C%20final%3Cbr%3E%20%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EUAE%20squad%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Chaya%20Mughal%20(captain)%2C%20Esha%20Oza%2C%20Indhuja%20Nandakumar%2C%20Kavisha%20Kumari%2C%20Khushi%20Sharma%2C%20Lavanya%20Keny%2C%20Priyanjali%20Jain%2C%20Rithika%20Rajith%2C%20Samaira%20Dharnidharka%2C%20Sanchin%20Singh%2C%20Siya%20Gokhale%2C%20Suraksha%20Kotte%2C%20Theertha%20Satish%2C%20Vaishnave%20Mahesh%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed
Power: 720hp
Torque: 770Nm
Price: Dh1,100,000
On sale: now
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, semi-final result:
Liverpool 4-0 Barcelona
Liverpool win 4-3 on aggregate
Champions Legaue final: June 1, Madrid
The specs
Price: From Dh529,000
Engine: 5-litre V8
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Power: 520hp
Torque: 625Nm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.8L/100km
Roll of honour 2019-2020
Dubai Rugby Sevens
Winners: Dubai Hurricanes
Runners up: Bahrain
West Asia Premiership
Winners: Bahrain
Runners up: UAE Premiership
UAE Premiership
Winners: Dubai Exiles
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes
UAE Division One
Winners: Abu Dhabi Saracens
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes II
UAE Division Two
Winners: Barrelhouse
Runners up: RAK Rugby
The bio
Date of Birth: April 25, 1993
Place of Birth: Dubai, UAE
Marital Status: Single
School: Al Sufouh in Jumeirah, Dubai
University: Emirates Airline National Cadet Programme and Hamdan University
Job Title: Pilot, First Officer
Number of hours flying in a Boeing 777: 1,200
Number of flights: Approximately 300
Hobbies: Exercising
Nicest destination: Milan, New Zealand, Seattle for shopping
Least nice destination: Kabul, but someone has to do it. It’s not scary but at least you can tick the box that you’ve been
Favourite place to visit: Dubai, there’s no place like home
Roll%20of%20Honour%2C%20men%E2%80%99s%20domestic%20rugby%20season
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Spec%20sheet
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Three tips from La Perle's performers
1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.
Malcolm & Marie
Directed by: Sam Levinson
Starring: John David Washington and Zendaya
Three stars
SHAITTAN
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UAE%20PREMIERSHIP
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EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
Meydan race card
6.30pm: Maiden; Dh165,000; (Dirt) 1,200m
7.05pm: Handicap; Dh170,000; (D) 1,200m
7.40pm: Maiden; Dh165,000; (D) 1,900m
8.15pm: Handicap; Dh185,000; (D) 2,000m
8.50pm: Handicap; Dh185,000; (D) 1,600m
9.25pm: Handicap; Dh165,000; (D) 2,000m
