Dubai // Soft Falling Rain supplied trainer Mike de Kock with a fifth win in the 1,600m UAE 2000 Guineas, leading 400m out under Paul Hanagan for his main employer, Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid, who was present to witness the victory, as was his brother, Sheikh Mohammed.
Champion juvenile in South Africa last year, the winner has won all six career starts, but future plans remain fluid according to De Kock.
"Stamina was a concern, but he has stayed well off a decent early pace and recorded a decent time," De Kock said.
"I will have to talk to the owner as to whether we step up again, but this could be his optimum."
The owner added: "We will consider the UAE Derby but we may stick to this trip. He is a horse we are keen to take to England, with Royal Ascot perhaps in mind."
Just as they did with Lovely Pass in the UAE 1000 Guineas last week, Ahmed Ajtebi and Mahmood Al Zarooni combined to win a 1,600m Tapeta feature, this time with Moonwalk In Paris in the Group 3 Firebreak Stakes.
The pair had to weave through rivals inside the final 300m before darting up a gap on the rail inside the final 200m.
"That is his first start for us and he has shown plenty of courage to go through the gaps when I have asked him," Ajtebi said.
"He will improve with that run under his belt and it has been a good couple of weeks."
The trainer then completed a quick big-race double with Mental defying a Group 1 penalty to land the spoils in the Group 3 Al Shindagha Sprint, a 1,200m dash.
Making his local debut and first for the yard, he was settled well off a frantic early gallop before powering down the outside to win cosily.
"He had been working nicely and proved in Australia he is a very good sprinter," jockey Mickael Barzalona said, "but he just needed to prove himself on this surface.
"He has handled it well and, sure to improve for that run, he has done very well under that penalty."
Anatolian then complete a treble for the trainer and double for the jockey with a smooth success in the concluding 2,435m turf handicap.
Earlier fellow Godolphin trainer Saeed bin Suroor saddled a 1-2-3 in the opening 2,200m Tapeta handicap, with jockey Silvestre De Sousa aboard winner Kassiano, who was chased home by Royal Empire, with Modun third.
UK trainer David Simcock registered his second 2013 Carnival winner with the easy success of Trade Storm in a 1,800m turf handicap.
Slowly away under Jamie Spencer, the horse trailed the whole field until producing a devastating turn of foot to lead inside the final furlong and win on the bridle.
"We were bumped at the start, which was why we were that far back," Spencer said, "but he travelled really strongly and it was just a case of finding a clear path in the straight, so I switched wide and he picked up very well."
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Uefa Champions League semi-finals, second leg:
Liverpool (0) v Barcelona (3), Tuesday, 11pm UAE
Game is on BeIN Sports
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ABU DHABI ORDER OF PLAY
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Started: October 2023
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Sector: E-commerce
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Result
2.15pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,950m; Winner: Majestic Thunder, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Satish Seemar (trainer).
2.45pm: Handicap Dh80,000 1,800m; Winner: Tailor’s Row, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.
3.15pm: Handicap Dh85,000 1,600m; Winner: Native Appeal, Adam McLean, Doug Watson.
3.45pm: Handicap Dh115,000 1,950m; Winner: Conclusion, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi.
4.15pm: Handicap Dh100,000 1,400m; Winner: Pilgrim’s Treasure, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar.
4.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,400m; Winner: Sanad Libya, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
5.15pm: Handicap Dh90,000 1,000m; Winner: Midlander, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
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How it works
Each player begins with one of the great empires of history, from Julius Caesar's Rome to Ramses of Egypt, spread over Europe and the Middle East.
Round by round, the player expands their empire. The more land they have, the more money they can take from their coffers for each go.
As unruled land and soldiers are acquired, players must feed them. When a player comes up against land held by another army, they can choose to battle for supremacy.
A dice-based battle system is used and players can get the edge on their enemy with by deploying a renowned hero on the battlefield.
Players that lose battles and land will find their coffers dwindle and troops go hungry. The end goal? Global domination of course.
Scorecard:
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South Africa 361
England lead by 216 runs with 9 wickets remaining
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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.
“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.”
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Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia
The world fair will run for six months from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.
It is expected to attract 25 million visits
Some 70 per cent visitors are projected to come from outside the UAE, the largest proportion of international visitors in the 167-year history of World Expos.
More than 30,000 volunteers are required for Expo 2020
The site covers a total of 4.38 sqkm, including a 2 sqkm gated area
It is located adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South
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