DUBAI // The Emirates racing season ended in a blaze of glory for Godolphin on Saturday when African Story romped to victory in record time to provide the men in blue with a seventh Dubai World Cup triumph.
Another person celebrating at Meydan Racecourse was the Emirati trainer Majed Al Jahouri, who saddled the winners in all eight Group 1 prizes for Purebred Arabians in the country this season.
The feat was accomplished in the season's final meeting, when Rabbah De Carrere came in with a strong late run to clinch the Dubai Kahayla Classic, the opening race of the Dubai World Cup meeting.
The build-up to the race had been an intense time, Al Jahouri said, and the only way he could relax after the race was to turn off his phone.
“I really appreciate all those phone calls from all those who want to wish me and congratulate me but I had to put my head down to get some sleep after a hectic two weeks,” the 27-year-old trainer said.
“It has been a remarkable season for me and I am not too sure if I can repeat this ever again.
“We had some good horses and they were all running well throughout the season. We also had the luxury to spread them across the major prizes, like horses for the courses.”
Success for the trainer also means success for his principal patron, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed.
Plans are under way to strengthen the stables for the next season.
“We wouldn’t have achieved the success we have had without the support and the backing of Sheikh Mansour,” Al Jahouri said.
“The Kahayla Classic was the only trophy missing. Now that we have won every top prize for the Arabians in the country, it would be nice to venture out to compete with our horses abroad.
“But that will entirely be for Sheikh Mansour to decide. It is still too early to talk about our plans for the summer and the preparations for next season until a meeting with Sheikh Mansour.
“The horses we have had so much success with are still young and would still be good or even better for the next season. So we would have the same kind of strength to take forward.”
Al Jahouri saddled 15 winners to accumulate Dh3.1 million in prize money for 2013/2014, bettering his previous best of 14 winners, including five Group 1 prizes, for Dh2.2m last season.
“I can only thank God,” the Al Wathba Stables trainer said when asked of the success he has had this season.
“It is hard work, of course, but you also need some luck in horse racing. We had both this season. We also had a great team contributing to the success we have had.
“So it all panned out well for us.”
apassela@thenational.ae
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2019 ASIA CUP POTS
Pot 1
UAE, Iran, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia
Pot 2
China, Syria, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Qatar, Thailand
Pot 3
Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Palestine, Oman, India, Vietnam
Pot 4
North Korea, Philippines, Bahrain, Jordan, Yemen, Turkmenistan
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company%20profile
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Who are the Sacklers?
The Sackler family is a transatlantic dynasty that owns Purdue Pharma, which manufactures and markets OxyContin, one of the drugs at the centre of America's opioids crisis. The family is well known for their generous philanthropy towards the world's top cultural institutions, including Guggenheim Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, Tate in Britain, Yale University and the Serpentine Gallery, to name a few. Two branches of the family control Purdue Pharma.
Isaac Sackler and Sophie Greenberg were Jewish immigrants who arrived in New York before the First World War. They had three sons. The first, Arthur, died before OxyContin was invented. The second, Mortimer, who died aged 93 in 2010, was a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma. The third, Raymond, died aged 97 in 2017 and was also a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma.
It was Arthur, a psychiatrist and pharmaceutical marketeer, who started the family business dynasty. He and his brothers bought a small company called Purdue Frederick; among their first products were laxatives and prescription earwax remover.
Arthur's branch of the family has not been involved in Purdue for many years and his daughter, Elizabeth, has spoken out against it, saying the company's role in America's drugs crisis is "morally abhorrent".
The lawsuits that were brought by the attorneys general of New York and Massachussetts named eight Sacklers. This includes Kathe, Mortimer, Richard, Jonathan and Ilene Sackler Lefcourt, who are all the children of either Mortimer or Raymond. Then there's Theresa Sackler, who is Mortimer senior's widow; Beverly, Raymond's widow; and David Sackler, Raymond's grandson.
Members of the Sackler family are rarely seen in public.
The Internet
Hive Mind
four stars
SPECS
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