Ascot, England // California Chrome has yet to put back on the weight he lost in Dubai as the American challenger gears up for a tilt at the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes at the Royal Ascot in two weeks.
California Chrome had his first public outing in Britain when he was partnered in a racecourse gallop by Frankie Dettori in tandem with Solario Stakes winner Aktabantay over 1,400 metres.
The Dubai World Cup runner-up worked in the presence of Alan Sherman, the assistant trainer and son to Art, who had not seen his stable flag-bearer since he was denied by Prince Bishop in the World Cup in March.
California Chrome has been stabled with Rae Guest in Newmarket, and will have a final breeze at the headquarters of British racing next week ahead of his June 17 assignment.
“He is a little bit leaner than he was,” Sherman said. “That Dubai race took a lot out of him. When he arrived here for two weeks all he really did was sleep. Rae has done a great job getting that weight back on. He is not yet back to where he was, but he looks good.”
As California Chrome has raced around left-handed tracks his whole life, the right-handed nature of Ascot was entirely new to him. There are no right-handed gallops in Newmarket, either and Dettori said the work could have gone more smoothly around the turn in to the straight.
“The whole idea was to get him to follow speed around the turn to make sure he gets the right lead,” the Italian rider said. “He was a bit surprised going into the turn, he didn’t know what was going on but then he got into his right lead, he learnt very quickly and in the straight I asked him to quicken to make sure he understood he was going to carry on.”
Dettori is pencilled in to ride Western Hymn in the race for John Gosden, and, with the possibility that regular rider Victor Espinoza may not make the trip across the Atlantic, for the next few days at least the meeting’s most high-profile international horse does not yet have a partner.
The decision to run California Chrome in England was taken during World Cup week, and was contingent on America’s Horse of the Year putting in a good performance at Meydan. Following the world’s richest race, trainer Art Sherman made public his feelings at not wanting his pride and joy to travel to Europe to race.
It was a sentiment shared by his son in the shadow of the grandstand where California Chrome will become the second Kentucky Derby winner to run in two years after Animal Kingdom’s failed bid in 2013.
“Obviously we would rather he was at home rather than running there,” Sherman added. “It is not our decision, it is up to the owners. We are going to do what is best for the horse. Perry [Martin] owns 70 per cent of the horse so he calls the shots.”
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Virtual banks explained
What is a virtual bank?
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority defines it as a bank that delivers services through the internet or other electronic channels instead of physical branches. That means not only facilitating payments but accepting deposits and making loans, just like traditional ones. Other terms used interchangeably include digital or digital-only banks or neobanks. By contrast, so-called digital wallets or e-wallets such as Apple Pay, PayPal or Google Pay usually serve as intermediaries between a consumer’s traditional account or credit card and a merchant, usually via a smartphone or computer.
What’s the draw in Asia?
Hundreds of millions of people under-served by traditional institutions, for one thing. In China, India and elsewhere, digital wallets such as Alipay, WeChat Pay and Paytm have already become ubiquitous, offering millions of people an easy way to store and spend their money via mobile phone. Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines are also among the world’s biggest under-banked countries; together they have almost half a billion people.
Is Hong Kong short of banks?
No, but the city is among the most cash-reliant major economies, leaving room for newcomers to disrupt the entrenched industry. Ant Financial, an Alibaba Group Holding affiliate that runs Alipay and MYBank, and Tencent Holdings, the company behind WeBank and WeChat Pay, are among the owners of the eight ventures licensed to create virtual banks in Hong Kong, with operations expected to start as early as the end of the year.
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 640hp
Torque: 760nm
On sale: 2026
Price: Not announced yet
CRICKET%20WORLD%20CUP%20QUALIFIER%2C%20ZIMBABWE%20
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England v South Africa Test series:
First Test: at Lord's, England won by 211 runs
Second Test: at Trent Bridge, South Africa won by 340 runs
Third Test: at The Oval, July 27-31
Fourth Test: at Old Trafford, August 4-8
The specs
Engine: 5.0-litre supercharged V8
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Power: 575bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: Dh554,000
On sale: now
Film: Raid
Dir: Rajkumar Gupta
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Ileana D'cruz and Saurabh Shukla
Verdict: Three stars
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
MATCH INFO
FA Cup final
Chelsea 1
Hazard (22' pen)
Manchester United 0
Man of the match: Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
SPECS
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The%20US%20Congress%20explained
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MATCH INFO
Manchester City 2 (Mahrez 04', Ake 84')
Leicester City 5 (Vardy 37' pen, 54', 58' pen, Maddison 77', Tielemans 88' pen)
Man of the match: Jamie Vardy (Leicester City)
The specs
Price: From Dh180,000 (estimate)
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged and supercharged in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 320hp @ 5,700rpm
Torque: 400Nm @ 2,200rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.7L / 100km
FIGHT%20CARD
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The specs: 2017 Lotus Evora Sport 410
Price, base / as tested Dh395,000 / Dh420,000
Engine 3.5L V6
Transmission Six-speed manual
Power 410hp @ 7,000rpm
Torque 420Nm @ 3,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined 9.7L / 100km
Kill%20Bill%20Volume%201
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GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
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Shipping%20and%20banking%20
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India squad for fourth and fifth Tests
Kohli (c), Dhawan, Rahul, Shaw, Pujara, Rahane (vc), Karun, Karthik (wk), Pant (wk), Ashwin, Jadeja, Pandya, Ishant, Shami, Umesh, Bumrah, Thakur, Vihari
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
ELECTION%20RESULTS
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Honeymoonish
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Command%20Z
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Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Brahmastra%3A%20Part%20One%20-%20Shiva
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