DUBAI // Twice Over, the Dubai World Cup favourite, will jump from an unfavourably wide gate tomorrow, but connections say they are not worried because the two-time Champion Stakes victor won his prep race from the same starting position.
If he is to win on Saturday, Twice Over will have to do it going the long way round Meydan Racecourse's two bends after being assigned to stall 12 in the draw last night.
"It must be a good omen," said Teddy Grimthorpe, the racing manager for Saudi owner Khalid Abdullah, noting that Twice Over won the Al Maktoum Challenge Round Three prep race from exactly that position.
Twice Over started from stall 11 last year when he finished 10th, but just three-and-three-quarter lengths off the winner, Gloria de Campeao.
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"We have done it a little differently this time and come out earlier, as we noticed that the horses that ran well in the World Cup last year all spent some time here," Grimthorpe said.
Aidan O'Brien's Cape Blanco, the second favourite, was drawn in stall four. The horse's new Dubai-based part-owner, Fitri Hay, said she was pleased with the position. Cape Blanco is the Irish trainer O'Brien's first World Cup runner.
Buena Vista, the Japanese entry, was drawn in stall 13 but her trainer, Hiroyoshi Matsuda, said he was not worried by the wide position.
"The draw will not affect Buena Vista, who usually comes from behind the pace," Matsuda said.
"It was the fate for a Japanese horse to be drawn out wide."
Earlier this week compatriot Katsuhiko Sumii, the trainer of the World Cup runner, Victoire Pisa, suggested that the Japanese horses would be racing as a team in light of the devastating tsunami that ravaged the country. Yet although he expressed his sympathies for his countrymen, Matsuda was concentrating solely on victory.
"I never think that," Matsuda said. "I always think positively, and I truly feel that she is the best horse in the field. She has a real talent, and so do I. We are the team."
The three Godolphin horses, Prince Bishop, Poet's Voice and Monterosso, were drawn in stalls three, 10 and two, respectively.
Saeed bin Suroor, trainer of Poet's Voice, said that the draw would not be a big issue for his charge, who is a hold-up horse who likes to come from off the pace.
"He shows plenty of pace and I really do not think the draw will be a problem for him," the handler said.
Mike de Kock's two runners, Musir and Golden Sword, start from gates seven and 14, respectively.
Wigmore Hall, a joint favourite with Presvis in the Dubai Duty Free, was drawn in gate five.
His trainer, Michael Bell said he was pleased.
"I'm pretty happy with that," Bell said. Wigmore Hall won his prep race coming into World Cup day, and "he's a horse that has to come off the pace and I can't complain about the draw.
"He won his prep race well and that was great because we think we can get some improvement out of him. The same can probably said for most of the other runners in the race so we will have to see what happens on the day."
Presvis was drawn in stall six, but as a notorious back-runner who likes to jump very slowly out of the gate before turning on the speed in the home stretch, the position in which he starts will make no difference to Luca Cumani's quirky horse.
In the Dubai Sheema Classic, the Saudi Arabian horse Deem was drawn in two while Champ Pegasus, trained by the US handler, Richard Mandella, got seven.
Mandella, who won the Dubai World Cup in 2004 with Pleasantly Perfect, was satisfied with the starting stall of his 2011 Sheema Classic contender.
"We got lucky in the big race once," he said.
"I'm happy with the gate. He's a horse that was a maiden a year ago, and he's come a long way to get this far."
De Kock's Durban July runner-up, Irish Flame, was drawn in gate six. He will wear blinkers for the first time on Saturday, and that fact, coupled with his favourable draw, may prove the ticket to the horse.
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Sri Lanka squad for tri-nation series
Angelo Mathews (c), Upul Tharanga, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Janith Perera, Thisara Perera, Asela Gunaratne, Niroshan Dickwella, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Dushmantha Chameera, Shehan Madushanka, Akila Dananjaya, Lakshan Sandakan and Wanidu Hasaranga
Temple numbers
Expected completion: 2022
Height: 24 meters
Ground floor banquet hall: 370 square metres to accommodate about 750 people
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MATCH INFO
Leeds United 0
Brighton 1 (Maupay 17')
Man of the match: Ben White (Brighton)
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.”
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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