LONDON // Elzaam, Dream Ahead and Delegator have all been touted this season as the potential sprint champion of Europe, but when their respective opportunities arose, none of them took the crown.
All three have the chance Saturday to assume that mantle when they go head-to-head in the Group 1 Sprint Cup at Haydock Park in England.
Elzaam suffered trouble in running when finishing fourth in the Golden Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot in June before fluffing his lines completely behind Dream Ahead and Delegator in the July Cup at Newmarket.
It was the third time that Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid's three year old struggled to perform at the home of British racing, and his trainer, Roger Varian, said today's assignment is better suited to his charge.
"I don't think he likes the undulations at Newmarket," Varian said. "He's got a good record on flat tracks, which is what he'll get at Haydock. The July Cup was a slowly-run race which didn't suit him. He saw too much daylight.
"He needs to be just off a strong pace."
Varian set the season alight when he officially took over from Michael Jarvis, his mentor at Kremlin House stables, in April.
Varian's stable was quiet during August, much through choice as well as a lean patch, which has resulted in him sending out more horses to finish last than first in the past 14 days.
"We have deliberately regrouped for the busy autumn ahead," Varian said. "We'll have a lot of runners in September, but let's just get Saturday out of the way before we release the rest of the big guns."
Elzaam is sure to get the cover he needs with 15 other rivals in the line-up, including Society Rock, the Golden Jubilee victor, and Hoof It, who was supplemented on Monday for £13,000 (Dh77,350) by Lee Westwood, the golfer, and his manager, Andrew Chandler.
Despite the bullish signals emanating from the Hoof It camp, there is a feeling that neither Delegator nor Dream Ahead has shown their true colours this season. Dream Ahead surely holds the most latent talent, having finished last season rated as the joint-top juvenile alongside Frankel. There was a glimpse of his true ability when he won the July Cup, but of the horses that finished behind him that day, only one has placed in 14 subsequent runs.
Khalifa bin Dasmal's colt then flopped in the Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville, a run that still mystifies his trainer, David Simcock. With the sun shining over England yesterday his chances have decreased with the ebb flowing towards Delegator.
Saeed bin Suroor, the Godolphin trainer, has said all season that Delegator needs fast ground to be seen to his best effect. The five year old was scratched from Royal Ascot due to rain-affected going. When conditions had come in his favour for the July Cup, he was drawn on the far side of the pack away from the pace. Godolphin have been desperate to showcase Delegator's considerable talents with everything in his favour. Having drawn the gate two down from Masamah, the pace horse, it would appear to be that day.
sports@thenational.ae
F1 2020 calendar
March 15 - Australia, Melbourne; March 22 - Bahrain, Sakhir; April 5 - Vietnam, Hanoi; April 19 - China, Shanghai; May 3 - Netherlands, Zandvoort; May 20 - Spain, Barcelona; May 24 - Monaco, Monaco; June 7 - Azerbaijan, Baku; June 14 - Canada, Montreal; June 28 - France, Le Castellet; July 5 - Austria, Spielberg; July 19 - Great Britain, Silverstone; August 2 - Hungary, Budapest; August 30 - Belgium, Spa; September 6 - Italy, Monza; September 20 - Singapore, Singapore; September 27 - Russia, Sochi; October 11 - Japan, Suzuka; October 25 - United States, Austin; November 1 - Mexico City, Mexico City; November 15 - Brazil, Sao Paulo; November 29 - Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi.
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Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill
Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
The Baghdad Clock
Shahad Al Rawi, Oneworld
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
DMZ facts
- The DMZ was created as a buffer after the 1950-53 Korean War.
- It runs 248 kilometers across the Korean Peninsula and is 4km wide.
- The zone is jointly overseen by the US-led United Nations Command and North Korea.
- It is littered with an estimated 2 million mines, tank traps, razor wire fences and guard posts.
- Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un met at a building in Panmunjom, where an armistice was signed to stop the Korean War.
- Panmunjom is 52km north of the Korean capital Seoul and 147km south of Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital.
- Former US president Bill Clinton visited Panmunjom in 1993, while Ronald Reagan visited the DMZ in 1983, George W. Bush in 2002 and Barack Obama visited a nearby military camp in 2012.
- Mr Trump planned to visit in November 2017, but heavy fog that prevented his helicopter from landing.
More on animal trafficking
More from Armen Sarkissian
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Did you know?
Brunch has been around, is some form or another, for more than a century. The word was first mentioned in print in an 1895 edition of Hunter’s Weekly, after making the rounds among university students in Britain. The article, entitled Brunch: A Plea, argued the case for a later, more sociable weekend meal. “By eliminating the need to get up early on Sunday, brunch would make life brighter for Saturday night carousers. It would promote human happiness in other ways as well,” the piece read. “It is talk-compelling. It puts you in a good temper, it makes you satisfied with yourself and your fellow beings, it sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week.” More than 100 years later, author Guy Beringer’s words still ring true, especially in the UAE, where brunches are often used to mark special, sociable occasions.
