Gladiatorus, the first Emirati-owned, trained and ridden horse to win a race on Dubai World Cup night will try to repeat his Group One success at Royal Ascot for the Godolphin racing operation.
The four-year-old son of Silic was last month designated the highest-rated active turf horse in the world following his US$5million (Dh18.3m) Dubai Duty Free success under Ahmed Ajtebi in March. He is set to contest the Queen Anne Stakes mile on the opening Tuesday of Ascot. Trained by former endurance handler, Mubarak bin Shafya, and now prepared by Saeed bin Suroor, Gladiatorus's achievement looks yet more impressive viewed alongside the recent form of Duty Free runner-up Presvis.
A month after front-running Gladiatorus put three-and-a-quarter lengths between himself and Presvis, the Luca Cumani-trained five-year-old stormed up the home stretch at Hong Kong's Sha Tin to win the Group One Audemars Piguet QE II Cup under Ryan Moore.
On a roll, Presvis then travelled to Singapore and finished a nose behind the French horse, Gloria de Campeao. Now in England and anticipating his first start since Dubai, Gladiatorus is likely to face competition from Richard Hannon's Paco Boy, a rival he beat well at Nad al Sheba, as well as Group One Juddmonte Lockinge winner, Virtual, trained by John Gosden.
Virtual could only win by a nose from Godolphin's Alexandros on that occasion - another horse beaten by more than five lengths by Gladiatorus in the Duty Free. Bin Suroor reported that Gladiatorus, who has been training on Godolphin's private track at Newmarket, was going well ahead of his Queen Anne challenge.
A win for the colt, who started his racing career in Italy, would represent a remarkable eighth victory in the race for bin Suroor.
stregoning@thenational.ae
Yemen's Bahais and the charges they often face
The Baha'i faith was made known in Yemen in the 19th century, first introduced by an Iranian man named Ali Muhammad Al Shirazi, considered the Herald of the Baha'i faith in 1844.
The Baha'i faith has had a growing number of followers in recent years despite persecution in Yemen and Iran.
Today, some 2,000 Baha'is reside in Yemen, according to Insaf.
"The 24 defendants represented by the House of Justice, which has intelligence outfits from the uS and the UK working to carry out an espionage scheme in Yemen under the guise of religion.. aimed to impant and found the Bahai sect on Yemeni soil by bringing foreign Bahais from abroad and homing them in Yemen," the charge sheet said.
Baha'Ullah, the founder of the Bahai faith, was exiled by the Ottoman Empire in 1868 from Iran to what is now Israel. Now, the Bahai faith's highest governing body, known as the Universal House of Justice, is based in the Israeli city of Haifa, which the Bahais turn towards during prayer.
The Houthis cite this as collective "evidence" of Bahai "links" to Israel - which the Houthis consider their enemy.
The biog
Fatima Al Darmaki is an Emirati widow with three children
She has received 46 certificates of appreciation and excellence throughout her career
She won the 'ideal mother' category at the Minister of Interior Awards for Excellence
Her favourite food is Harees, a slow-cooked porridge-like dish made from boiled wheat berries mixed with chicken
Reputation
Taylor Swift
(Big Machine Records)
Henrik Stenson's finishes at Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship:
2006 - 2
2007 - 8
2008 - 2
2009 - MC
2010 - 21
2011 - 42
2012 - MC
2013 - 23
2014 - MC
2015 - MC
2016 - 3
2017 - 8
Huddersfield Town permanent signings:
- Steve Mounie (striker): signed from Montpellier for £11 million
- Tom Ince (winger): signed from Derby County for £7.7m
- Aaron Mooy (midfielder): signed from Manchester City for £7.7m
- Laurent Depoitre (striker): signed from Porto for £3.4m
- Scott Malone (defender): signed from Fulham for £3.3m
- Zanka (defender): signed from Copenhagen for £2.3m
- Elias Kachunga (winger): signed for Ingolstadt for £1.1m
- Danny WIlliams (midfielder): signed from Reading on a free transfer
Miguel Cotto world titles:
WBO Light Welterweight champion - 2004-06
WBA Welterweight champion – 2006-08
WBO Welterweight champion – Feb 2009-Nov 2009
WBA Light Middleweight champion – 2010-12
WBC Middleweight champion – 2014-15
WBO Light Middleweight champion – Aug 2017-Dec 2017