Cirrus Des Aigles leads a stellar international party in Hong Kong on Sunday morning when the evergreen globe-trotter attempts to finally put the record straight at Sha Tin Racecourse.
It was in Hong Kong 12 months ago that Corine Barande-Barbe’s gelding picked up a tendon injury, just days before what was to be his fourth run in the special administrative region.
The 2012 Dubai Sheema Classic winner was fifth in the Hong Kong Vase in 2009, and he was subsequently seventh and fifth in the Hong Kong Cup.
Cirrus Des Aigles has always been the stable favourite at Barande-Barbe’s Chantilly base in France, but the seven year old appears to be becoming wiser with age. Although the horse is well-versed in the surrounds of Sha Tin, he has not been completely compliant with his training regimen.
As in Dubai, the French challengers have trained together in the mornings, led by Dunaden, who starts in the Vase, but Cirrus Des Aigles has worked alone.
Earlier this week, he pulled off under regular jockey Christophe Soumillon, but Barande-Barbe felt this was a good sign.
“He really loves it here,” she said.
“According to his exercise rider Zoe Gargoulaud, he always acts exactly the same way at exactly the same points around the track, as if it was his playground.
“Look at him staring at the mountains. It is a real shame that he has never really succeeded at Sha Tin, but it has been only a matter of bad luck.”
The French challenger is joined in the 2,000-metre race by fellow international runner Little Mike, who has rebuilt his reputation this season after suffering an injury when finishing 11th to Sajjhaa in the Godolphin Mile on World Cup night.
The 2012 Breeders’ Cup Turf winner bounced back in September when claiming the Grade 1 Joe Hirsh Invitational, before finishing seventh while trying to defend his title in Santa Anita last month,
Bolstering the international brigade is Side Glance, fourth in the Dubai World Cup, who secured his first Group 1 victory in Australia last month when wining the Mackinnon Stakes. Tokei Halo from Japan, Grandeur from England and Neatico from Germany complete the raiders.
Cirrus Des Aigles, who last ran when second to Godolphin’s Farhh in the Champion Stakes at Ascot Racecourse in October, is being aimed at a repeat bid in the Sheema Classic in March.
The internationals face a robust home defence today in the HK$22 million (Dh10.4m) event from Military Attack, who also is set to grace Meydan Racecourse.
Trainer John Moore said that Military Attack is being aimed at the Dubai World Cup, and the five year old advertised his ability to travel when he was a wide-margin winner of the International Cup at Kranji Racecourse in May, a race Moore hopes to defend.
Military Attack has not won in two subsequent starts, but Moore believes that he has been building up his charge with this race specifically in mind.
“I couldn’t have him any fitter than he is for the grand final,” Moore said. “I think there will definitely be more improvement to come, because it hasn’t been the ideal prep leading into this.
“It would have been nice to get one more run into him, but that wasn’t possible unless we got him going very early on in the season.
“I think he will just keep improving up to Dubai and Singapore.”
Fixture has global feel and continues to grow
The Hong Kong Jockey Club has promised to take their international race meeting to the next level as the HK$72 million (Dh34.1m) fixture gets underway on Sunday with a strong international representation.
A bumper European challenge will contest the four Group 1 races at Sha Tin; the Vase, Sprint, Mile and Cup, while horses such as the top-class Japanese sprinter Lord Kanaloa, Breeders’ Cup winner Little Mike and Australian challenger Linton add flavour from around the world. The withdrawal of Dandino and Galileo Rock yesterday from the Vase due to soft-tissue injuries in their legs leaves the European challenge down to 19 of the 26 foreign raiders.
The Hong Kong Cup was allocated Group 1 status in 1999, and Winfried Engelbrecht Bresges, the CEO of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, was looking to the future.
“We started with a vision to do this in 1999/2000, and from 2001 we always had five-year plans in place,” he said.
“We were quicker at building up the brand than we thought, but I think if you have a vision, it attracts the best horses.
“We will embark on the next phase to develop this further.”
Although the initial international entry in October was 241 horses from 19 countries, this was, in fact, a drop in numbers from 267 the previous season.
In terms of a spectacle, the clash of ages between the European fillies Moonlight Cloud and Sky Lantern in the Mile is a mouth-watering prospect.
But in terms of quality, there is not a horse running today in the top 10 of the world thoroughbred rankings.
sports@thenational.ae
Follow us on twitter at @SprtNationalUAE
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa
Rating: 2.5/5
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.”
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
