Postponed and Real Steel will advertise the strength of Dubai World Cup night turf form this weekend, but it is the former who has by far the easier task in the Coronation Cup at Epsom on Saturday.
Postponed, owned by Sheikh Mohammed Obaid, augmented his easy victory in the Dubai City Of Gold on the Super Saturday card when he was an effortless winner of the Dubai Sheema Classic at Meydan in March.
Postponed has not raced since, but warmed up for his Group 1 assignment by taking part in last week’s Breakfast With The Stars event at Epsom under jockey Andrea Atzeni, who guided him between two work partners with ease.
The Coronation Cup is staged over the same 2,400-metre roller-coaster track as that of Friday’s Oaks and Saturday’s Derby.
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Postponed clearly handled the unique racecourse layout and trainer Roger Varian believes that even with over 100,000 spectators his stable flag-bearer will have no problem dealing with the Derby Day atmosphere.
“He’s a got a great temperament, and you wouldn’t notice him in the string,” Varian said. “He goes out, eats, sleeps and doesn’t give us many headaches.
“On World Cup night the temperature was very warm and there was plenty of atmosphere and I should think his heart-rate didn’t falter. He has one of those to-die-for attitudes.
“I’d seen him on a racecourse before he came to me, and you can’t help but be drawn to him as he is an exceptionally good-looking horse. He has a good mind and I’d love to have another few more like him.”
Both the now-retired Cirrus Des Aigles and the ill-fated St Nicholas Abbey were victorious at Epsom having won the Sheema Classic, but there is a trio of high-class fillies that stand in Postponed’s way of completing the double.
Found, last season’s Breeders’ Cup Turf heroine, Simple Verse, who beat the colts in a controversial English St Leger in September, and Arabian Queen, who upset Golden Horn in the International at York in August, all should be declared at lunchtime today.
The Corsican was also expected to take his chance but trainer David Simcock reported yesterday that the five year old, owned by Fitri Hay, died tragically in a gallops accident.
The Corsican finished seventh in the Dubai Turf when Real Steel was pushed wide from his draw in Gate 14, and then ran in fifth place in the Group 1 Prix Ganay in France a month ago.
It will be Real Steel’s first attempt at 1,600 metres, and he will be ridden by Yuichi Fukunaga.
Real Steel’s stamina will be fundamental to his chances if Fukunaga can secure a prominent position, but they will have to go some pace to hold off the Japanese monster that is Maurice.
Maurice, rated equal third in the Longines World Rankings with Postponed, Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist and Hong Kong’s Werther, is on a winning streak of seven and looks hard to beat.
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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.”
