ASCOT // It was a drizzly day in Berkshire yesterday, but the weather didn't rain on the European team's parade at the entertaining Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup, the international jockey's competition.
The 12 riders were split into four different teams, Great Britain, Ireland, Europe, and the Rest of the World, and race-goers were treated to a thorough display of contrasting jockeyship.
All the pre-race hullabaloo had centred around the world's two winning-most jockeys, Russell Baze and Jorge Ricardo, but it was their Rest of The World team captain, Yutake Take, who led the way in the first two races.
The bookmakers had given little credence to the challenge of Japan's best jockey, making him the outsider of the field to be the day's top rider, but he started off by booting home Strike Up The Band in the first race, the five-furlong sprint.
As soon as the gates opened, the pair sped off to lead, and they beat Europe's Turkish jockey, Halis Karatas, on Fathom Five. Take was understandably delighted afterwards commenting, "I loved the speed in the last furlong."
Take, who has not always charmed British racing audiences, showed his versatility in the second race when guiding the top-weight Nans Joy to victory over European captain Gerald Mosse in the distaff. Take stalked the field from the rear this time, but didn't lay down a challenge until midway through the seven-furlong contest. It was a consummate performance from Japan's 17-time champion jockey, and it was interesting to see how low he rode in the saddle compared to the European riders.
Take's two wins shunted the Rest of the World into the lead in the team competition, but it was Mosse who changed the face of the competition. The turning point came in the third race when the stylish Frenchman won the Shergar Cup sprint aboard Shifting Star. He almost won the following race on the card as well, the Stayers handicap, but he was outpointed by Great Britain skipper Hayley Turner, who timed her challenge to perfection on Gee Dee Nen to nail long-time leader Mosse on the line.
The Rest of the World team failed to feature on the scoreboard in either race beyond a mile, with the Stayers handicap and the Shergar Cup Challenge over 1m4f, the fifth race, dominated by the three other teams. Ricardo was the only rider not to pick up any points. Mosse also guided Perfect Star in the final race to win the Silver Saddle trophy for the most points on the day. His two wins, added to team-mate Mirco Demuro's win in the fifth race, contributed to the European team winning with 94 points to the Rest of the World's 57.
@Email:sports@thenational.ae
The biog
Profession: Senior sports presenter and producer
Marital status: Single
Favourite book: Al Nabi by Jibran Khalil Jibran
Favourite food: Italian and Lebanese food
Favourite football player: Cristiano Ronaldo
Languages: Arabic, French, English, Portuguese and some Spanish
Website: www.liliane-tannoury.com
hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
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
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
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Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
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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
How will Gen Alpha invest?
Mark Chahwan, co-founder and chief executive of robo-advisory firm Sarwa, forecasts that Generation Alpha (born between 2010 and 2024) will start investing in their teenage years and therefore benefit from compound interest.
“Technology and education should be the main drivers to make this happen, whether it’s investing in a few clicks or their schools/parents stepping up their personal finance education skills,” he adds.
Mr Chahwan says younger generations have a higher capacity to take on risk, but for some their appetite can be more cautious because they are investing for the first time. “Schools still do not teach personal finance and stock market investing, so a lot of the learning journey can feel daunting and intimidating,” he says.
He advises millennials to not always start with an aggressive portfolio even if they can afford to take risks. “We always advise to work your way up to your risk capacity, that way you experience volatility and get used to it. Given the higher risk capacity for the younger generations, stocks are a favourite,” says Mr Chahwan.
Highlighting the role technology has played in encouraging millennials and Gen Z to invest, he says: “They were often excluded, but with lower account minimums ... a customer with $1,000 [Dh3,672] in their account has their money working for them just as hard as the portfolio of a high get-worth individual.”
Company profile
Company: Verity
Date started: May 2021
Founders: Kamal Al-Samarrai, Dina Shoman and Omar Al Sharif
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Size: four team members
Stage: Intially bootstrapped but recently closed its first pre-seed round of $800,000
Investors: Wamda, VentureSouq, Beyond Capital and regional angel investors
Getting there
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Tbilisi from Dh1,025 return including taxes
The specs: 2018 Kia Picanto
Price: From Dh39,500
Engine: 1.2L inline four-cylinder
Transmission: Four-speed auto
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Fuel economy, combined: 6.0L / 100km
