Jockey James Doyle riding Nymphea Du Paon to victory in the first leg of the Arabian Triple Crown at the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club on January 5, 2014. Satish Kumar / The National
Jockey James Doyle riding Nymphea Du Paon to victory in the first leg of the Arabian Triple Crown at the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club on January 5, 2014. Satish Kumar / The National
Jockey James Doyle riding Nymphea Du Paon to victory in the first leg of the Arabian Triple Crown at the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club on January 5, 2014. Satish Kumar / The National
Jockey James Doyle riding Nymphea Du Paon to victory in the first leg of the Arabian Triple Crown at the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club on January 5, 2014. Satish Kumar / The National

Sport

Nymphea Du Paon back for Arabian Triple Crown

Filly undaunted after being having Group 2 win stricken from record

Amith Passela
Amith Passela

February 22, 2014

  • English
  • Arabic

ABU DHABI // Stripped of her victory in the first round of the Arabian Triple Crown after testing positive for prohibitive substance furosemide in her post-race urine sample, Nymphea Du Paon returns to contest the middle leg of the series on Sunday at Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club.

The Arabian Triple Crown Round 2 for four year olds has drawn 11 runners and is the feature event of the six-race card that also includes a race for thoroughbreds, the Abu Dhabi Championship Prep.

Nymphea Du Paon, already a winner of a Group 2 prize in France before arriving at the Al Asayl Stables in the summer, starts as favourite for the Group 2 prize in Abu Dhabi.

The Mahabb filly was an impressive winner of the Listed Abu Dhabi Championship on her local debut and was first past the winning post in her next start, both over the 1,600-metre distance.

Ernst Oertel, her handler, admitted a breach of the Emirates Racing Authority rules that he negligently failed to enter into the Official Medication Log Book, treatment given to Nymphea Du Paon.

“She is certainly a smart filly and has done nothing but please us since she arrived,” the UAE champion trainer said.

“We hope she will stay 2,200m and she has a touch of class, which will stand her in good stead. She does have to give weight to some useful rivals, including colts, which is never ideal, but hopefully her undoubted class will be key.”

AF Al Hazer, awarded the opening round of the Arabian Triple Crown when Nymphea Du Paon was disqualified, heads the field in the Emirates Colts Classic, the second race on the card.

The Ibrahim Al Hadrami-trained grey colt by AF Al Buraq was subsequently beaten in the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club Gold Cup, but he will still be hard a strong contender for the Dh100,000 prize under Royston Ffrench.

Satish Seemar has entered five in the concluding race for thoroughbreds and Inthar, a course and distance winner, is the choice of stable jockey Richard Mullen.

Erwan Charpy has two in the race with Amaan and Sefri, both in the silks of Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid, and they are expected to go close over the 2,200m trip. Amaan was previously a runner-up to Inthar in Abu Dhabi and Paul Hanagan, the owner’s first jockey, is onboard the five-year-old chestnut son of Nayef.

apassela@thenational.ae

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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.

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Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

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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.

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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.

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“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.”

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Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.

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