Following the conclusion of 2016 Royal Ascot, Geoffrey Riddle picks the winners and losers from race week.
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UAE-owned winners at Royal Ascot 2016:
Ardad — Windsor Castle Stakes — Abdullah Saeed Al Naboodah
Ribchester — Jersey Stakes — Godolphin
Usherette — Duke Of Cambridge Stakes — Godolphin
Portage — Royal Hunt Cup — Godolphin
Hawkbill — Tercentenary Stakes — Godolphin
Across The Stars, pictured, — King Edward VII Stakes — Saeed Suhail
WINNERS
America has got its mojo back:
American racing still has a long way to go before it reaches the level of the best racing jurisdictions in the world, but Royal Ascot showed sure signs that their mojo is fast returning. Where once American racing, like a lot of American sport, was inward looking, their horsemen have accepted the challenge from the rest of the world with gusto. Tepin’s victory in the Queen Anne Stakes on Tuesday was nothing short of sensational. Virtually everything was against last season’s Breeders’ Cup Mile heroine and as owner Robert Masterson pointed out afterwards, her win should send a powerful message back home that it can be done. Lady Aurelia’s demolition of the Queen Mary field for Wesley Ward took his record at Royal Ascot to seven wins in total, and all on the back of California Chrome’s Dubai World Cup win. These are heady times.
Adam Kirby:
Adam Kirby has been on the cusp of the big time since he won two Group 1s on Lethal Force in 2013. Kirby has ridden over 200 times for Godolphin in the past five years at a strike-rate of 30 per cent and one day he is sure to secure a decent job in the sport. For now, his emotional win aboard Profitable in the King’s Stand Stakes and My Dream Boat in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes capped a remarkable Group 1 double for him. Kirby rounded off the meeting by urging Commissioned to win the Queen Alexandra Stakes on Saturday. His partner Megan gave birth to their newborn son Charlie on Tuesday. It does not get much better.
Ryan Moore:
It is a testament to Ryan Moore’s durability as Royal Ascot’s leading rider for six out of the last seven years that he did not have the best meeting and still came out on top with six winners. Moore is currently judged by different criteria to the rest of the current crop of riders. Going back to 1975, the only other jockeys to ride six or more at the meeting are Frankie Dettori, Jonny Murtagh, Mick Kinane, Pat Eddery, Steve Cauthen, and Lester Piggott. Several times during the week, he gave horses too much to do, and the door was firmly shut on him when he tried to thread Kings Fete through a gap in the Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes. He still was crowned leading rider, and if everything had gone right he might have threatened last season’s total of nine.
Godolphin:
Last year Godolphin came away from Royal Ascot with only Buratino’s victory in the Coventry Stakes to show for their efforts. Fast forward 12 months and the Dubai-based operation plundered four winners last week. Godolphin have not always bought in the right horses, but Ribchester, pictured, justified John Ferguson’s faith in him with an easy win in the Jersey Stakes for trainer Richard Fahey. Portage won the Royal Hunt Cup for Ireland-based Michael Halford and Charlie Appleby’s Hawkbill to took the Tercentenary Stakes. In addition to Andre Fabre’s Usherette in the Duke Of Cambridge Stakes, it shows Godolphin is getting its act together, despite the lack of a Group 1 win.
Ascot:
The sun was absent for the whole week but the crowds still came. Two seasons ago, 285,831 racegoers flocked to Ascot, which rose to 293,303 12 months ago. Just over 295,000 made it to the royal meeting across the five days last week, which under grey skies is a significant achievement.
LOSERS
A Shin Hikari:
The Japanese horse came with a huge reputation and blew out spectacularly in Wednesday’s Prince Of Wales’s Stakes. A Shin Hikari had showed that he could run in different conditions when he was an astonishing winner of the Prix d’Ispahan in Chantilly last month, and must have recoiled from that huge effort.
British horsemen:
Japanese horsemen may continue to endure a frustrating time in Europe — they are still yearning to win the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe — but British horsemen were swamped throughout the five days. A record 14 horses from abroard plundered Ascot’s limited prize-money in search of the meeting’s prestige. There were 10 winners from Ireland, including seven from Aidan O’Brien’s Ballydoyle operation, pictured, two from America and two from France.
Saeed bin Suroor:
The indefatigable Godolphin trainer appears to be suffering the greatest at the hands of Godolphin’s increasingly expansionist policy. Since his first Royal Ascot winner in 1995, Bin Suroor saddled winners at the meeting every year until 2006, when he drew his first blank. He then drew another blank in 2011, and another in 2013 and has not had a winner now since Elite Army won the 2014 King George V Handicap.
Silvestre De Sousa:
The former retained rider to Godolphin and Bin Suroor is the reigning champion jockey in Britain, but the Brazilian barely caused a ripple at the royal meeting. De Sousa missed the opening day of the meeting to take 10 rides in the north of England. He partnered 11 horses in all at Royal Ascot and had only Harrison’s distant third in the King George V Stakes to show for it. It is baffling why he does not get more opportunities.
China Horse Club:
The China Horse Club paid £1.3m (Dh6.86m) for Irish 1000 Guineas winner Jet Setting at the Goffs London Sale on the eve of Royal Ascot last week from the previous owners, who paid just £12,000 for the filly. Jet Setting was sent off favourite for the Coronation Stakes, but finished a laboured sixth to Al Shaqab’s Qemah, pictured. Prior to the race, prominent members of the lifestyle syndicate were keen to push the message of the exceptional experiences that China Horse Club offer to their members in national media and on television stations. Jet Setting will always be a Classic winner, but she is hardly the most beautifully-bred filly to have won the Irish Guineas and it is the filly’s previous owners who are the real winners.
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
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RESULTS
6pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-2 – Group 1 (PA) $55,000 (Dirt) 1,900m
Winner: Rajeh, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Musabah Al Muhairi (trainer)
6.35pm: Oud Metha Stakes – Rated Conditions (TB) $60,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Get Back Goldie, William Buick, Doug O’Neill
7.10pm: Jumeirah Classic – Listed (TB) $150,000 (Turf) 1,600m
Winner: Sovereign Prince, James Doyle, Charlie Appleby
7.45pm: Firebreak Stakes – Group 3 (TB) $150,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Hypothetical, Mickael Barzalona, Salem bin Ghadayer
8.20pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-2 – Group 2 (TB) $350,000 (D) 1,900m
Winner: Hot Rod Charlie, William Buick, Doug O’Neill
8.55pm: Al Bastakiya Trial – Conditions (TB) $60,000 (D) 1,900m
Winner: Withering, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass
9.30pm: Balanchine – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,800m
Winner: Creative Flair, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
TECH%20SPECS%3A%20APPLE%20IPHONE%2014%20PLUS
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Profile
Co-founders of the company: Vilhelm Hedberg and Ravi Bhusari
Launch year: In 2016 ekar launched and signed an agreement with Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi. In January 2017 ekar launched in Dubai in a partnership with the RTA.
Number of employees: Over 50
Financing stage: Series B currently being finalised
Investors: Series A - Audacia Capital
Sector of operation: Transport
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
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
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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.”
