National Hunt racing is not something many in the UAE may be overly familiar with.
It is a sport a world away from the glittering action set to take place on Dubai World Cup night at Meydan Racecourse in just over two weeks.
So much so that no Arab rider has taken part in a race at the home of jumps racing. Before tonight.
Samir Mirdad will ride in the St Patrick's Derby, a charity flat race for Cancer Research UK that will pit him against 11 fellow amateurs, including Rishi Persad, the racing presenter, who plies his trade at Meydan Racecourse during the Dubai World Cup Carnival.
A Saudi, Mirdad is based in Dubai for 90 per cent of the year and acts as an adviser to several members of royal families in the Gulf.
In preparation for this unique test he was coached in Dubai by Richie Mullen, the stable jockey to Satish Seemar, before he transferred to Ireland to apply the finishing touches.
Mirdad is no rookie in the saddle, having competed in show-jumping events around the world, including the Dubai Horse Show in the 1990s, but the cut and thrust of a thoroughbred race is an entirely different matter.
He has endured losing weight, endless fitness training and a gruelling regime that involves a four-hour round trip to ride out, return home to look after his horses and perform a day’s international business.
For good measure, when Mirdad, 45, arrived for a recent interview, he had a black eye and a cold.
“My horse reared up on me when I was riding at The Curragh on Friday,” he said. “He was too fresh, and he reared up and gave me a shiner.
“It looks like I had just been in a street fight, and when I got on to Skype to tell my family my mother told me I should quit there and then.”
As an illustration of how little Mirdad knew of National Hunt racing, the story of how he met the men who would train him in Ireland, and embrace him as their own, takes some beating.
Through a contact who ships his nine horses to competitions around the world, Mirdad was effectively attached to the most powerful stable in the sport.
He was introduced to Willie Mullins, the overwhelming favourite to be the leading trainer at this week’s four-day Festival and who will provide his mount, Ballylongford.
Mirdad visited Mullins on a fact-finding trip, and as he sat in the kitchen of the trainer who will saddle Simenon in the Dubai Gold Cup on World Cup night he was introduced to the most consummate jumps jockey in the world.
“I’d never heard of either of them before,” Mirdad said. “So before I went to Ireland I did a lot of research on Mullins, so I knew a bit about him.
“So this guy comes up to me in the kitchen and introduces himself. ‘Ruby Walsh’, he says, but it didn’t mean anything to me at all, so I go: ‘I’ve got a good friend called Walsh, he’s a mushroom farmer, is he any relation to you?”
Walsh is not the type to suffer fools gladly, but he saw through the awkward social gaffe and the two have become firm friends.
Walsh’s genial charm hides a thirst for success at the top level that cannot be slaked, and he has proved to be a tough, but generous, taskmaster.
“Ruby is so hard on me,” Mirdad said. “Willie is like the nurturing mother, while Ruby is the beat-up dad.
“He knows what my weaknesses are, and he just keeps pushing me.”
Since Monday night, Mirdad has been stationed in Cheltenham, and each morning Mullins and Walsh have walked the course with him to show him every inch of turf.
“Everybody talks about the famous Cheltenham hill, and Meydan is heaven compared to this. It is something you have to respect.”
Mirdad’s reason for taking part is almost exclusively because his grandmother died of cancer many years ago. His wife is recovering from breast cancer, but as with all projects embarked upon by the tireless men of this world, there also is a little bit in it for him.
“My grandmother meant everything to me, and she died when I was 16,” he said.
“I want to raise as much money as I can. It is for them, but I am a competitor as well, and I am not doing it for the fun of it. I was made for pressure and I am doing it to win.”
sports@thenational.ae
*
*
*
SIX-RACE CARD KICKS OFF BIG WEEKEND IN UAE
*
Six races are scheduled for Thursday night's race meeting at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai.
Proceedings get underway at 6.35pm with the Cepsa Energy Stakes.
The final race of the night, the Nova Partnership Trophy, is scheduled for 9.40pm.
It is the start of a busy weekend of action in the UAE with races at Al Ain on Friday, Sharjah on Saturday and Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
*
*
*
Follow us on twitter at @SprtNationalUAE
Titan Sports Academy:
Programmes: Judo, wrestling, kick-boxing, muay thai, taekwondo and various summer camps
Location: Inside Abu Dhabi City Golf Club, Al Mushrif, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Telephone: 971 50 220 0326
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
What is cyberbullying?
Cyberbullying or online bullying could take many forms such as sending unkind or rude messages to someone, socially isolating people from groups, sharing embarrassing pictures of them, or spreading rumors about them.
Cyberbullying can take place on various platforms such as messages, on social media, on group chats, or games.
Parents should watch out for behavioural changes in their children.
When children are being bullied they they may be feel embarrassed and isolated, so parents should watch out for signs of signs of depression and anxiety
The specs
Engine: 2.2-litre, turbodiesel
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Power: 160hp
Torque: 385Nm
Price: Dh116,900
On sale: now
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Haltia.ai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202023%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECo-founders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Arto%20Bendiken%20and%20Talal%20Thabet%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20AI%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2041%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20About%20%241.7%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Self%2C%20family%20and%20friends%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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
Nancy 9 (Hassa Beek)
Nancy Ajram
(In2Musica)
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
PROFILE OF CURE.FIT
Started: July 2016
Founders: Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori
Based: Bangalore, India
Sector: Health & wellness
Size: 500 employees
Investment: $250 million
Investors: Accel, Oaktree Capital (US); Chiratae Ventures, Epiq Capital, Innoven Capital, Kalaari Capital, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Piramal Group’s Anand Piramal, Pratithi Investment Trust, Ratan Tata (India); and Unilever Ventures (Unilever’s global venture capital arm)
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Revibe%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hamza%20Iraqui%20and%20Abdessamad%20Ben%20Zakour%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Refurbished%20electronics%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunds%20raised%20so%20far%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2410m%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFlat6Labs%2C%20Resonance%20and%20various%20others%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
ICC men's cricketer of the year
2004 - Rahul Dravid (IND) ; 2005 - Jacques Kallis (SA) and Andrew Flintoff (ENG); 2006 - Ricky Ponting (AUS); 2007 - Ricky Ponting; 2008 - Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI); 2009 - Mitchell Johnson (AUS); 2010 - Sachin Tendulkar (IND); 2011 - Jonathan Trott (ENG); 2012 - Kumar Sangakkara (SL); 2013 - Michael Clarke (AUS); 2014 - Mitchell Johnson; 2015 - Steve Smith (AUS); 2016 - Ravichandran Ashwin (IND); 2017 - Virat Kohli (IND); 2018 - Virat Kohli; 2019 - Ben Stokes (ENG); 2021 - Shaheen Afridi
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
