'Huge achievement' for Tadhg O’Shea as he prepares for first Dubai World Cup ride


Amith Passela
  • English
  • Arabic

Tadhg O’Shea has been riding for more than 20 years in the UAE. He is the all-time leading jockey with 665 winners and is on course to win an unprecedented 10th jockeys' championship title.

The Irishman will add another feather to his cap when he partners the Bhupat Seemar-trained Remorse in the Dh12 million Group 1 Dubai World Cup at the Meydan Racecourse on Saturday.

It will be his first outing in the Dubai World Cup – the showpiece racing event that he has been watching from outside the racetrack for two decades.

“Remorse is going to be a very special ride for me because I have been in Dubai for more than 20 years and never ridden in the Dubai World Cup,” he told The National.

“I was due to ride War Story in 2020 but unfortunately the Dubai World Cup was cancelled due to Covid.

“So this would be my very first ride in the Dubai World Cup. It’s an amazing race and a very tough competition but I’m privileged to be in the race which I think is the best in the world.”

O’Shea, 39, described his first ride in the 26th edition of the race as a “huge achievement”.

“I have worked very hard throughout the whole season from early October and to finish off the season riding in one of the most famous races in the world is very satisfying on a personal level,” he said.

“We know we are against some amazing horses. Remorse is in great form and he obviously is climbing through the ranks. He’s got to improve again to get in front of the other guys but it’s a great privilege and honour to be associated with a great race.”

Remorse has won three times in 13 starts and finished runner-up eight times. He made a winning reappearance this season and has been runner-up four times, the last time in the Group 1 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 over the Dubai World Cup track and trip.

Aside from Remorse, the champion jockey will have four more rides across the nine races on the night.

He partners Ernst Oertel’s AF Alajaj in the Group 1 Dubai Kahayla Classic, the traditional opener and Arabian showpiece of the meeting.

“AF Alajaj is a very nice horse and is training very well,” O’Shea said of the five-year-old son of AF Albahar, winner of his last start in the Group 2 Mazrat Al Ruwayah over the 1,600m trip at Meydan on February 11.

“I liked him from the very first moment I sat on him, three years ago. He shows a lot of speed at home. He’s first time doing the distance [2,000m]. He doesn’t have the ideal gate number at 15 [out of the 16 starters] but he’s a very good horse and good horses can overcome bad draws.”

Next for O’Shea is the Group 2 Godolphin Mile, a prize he won on Secret Ambition 12 months ago.

“The Godolphin Mile was probably the hardest decision I ever had to make in Dubai so far, because I got off last year’s winner Secret Ambition,” he said.

“Secret Ambition has been an amazing horse in my career. I have never finished out of the top three [on her]. But I just felt, Al Nefud, I have ridden him twice and won both times on him. He’s got younger legs and he’s the horse that’s possibly open to the most improvement.”

O’Shea’s rides Bendoog in the Group 2 UAE Derby. He made a winning debut before finishing fourth in the Group 3 UAE 2000 Guineas and third in the Listed Al Bastakiya.

“Bendoog is a big horse and a big galloper with huge strides,” O'Shea said of the Gun Runner colt.

“He’s drawn nicely in stall five. He’s training well and very much looking forward to this race. Whatever happens this year, he’s an exciting horse for the next season.”

I have worked very hard for what I have achieved so far
Tadhg O'Shea

“Switzerland is a stable favourite,” O’Shea said of his mount in the Dubai Golden Shaheen.

“I rode him on Monday and [was] very happy with him. It’s a very good race as anyone can imagine for a Group 1. The faster they go, the better it suits Switzerland. Hoping for a big run.”

O’Shea is on 64 winners, seven more than his closest challenger Antonio Fresu in the UAE jockeys' championship. Another title seems well within his reach.

“I have worked very hard for what I have achieved so far,” O’Shea said of his milestones in the UAE.

“The smaller races mean as much as the bigger races for me. I try 110 per cent on all horses.

“It’s important too because the owners, trainers and stable staff put in so much into it for a horse to win, so you need to try to win on every horse and it’s important for everybody to get results."

O’Shea feels proud to ride for both Seemar’s Zabeel Stables on the thoroughbreds and Oertel-trained Purebred Arabians for the Emirati owner-breeder Khalid Khalifa Al Naboodah.

“I worked very hard to be the champion jockey over the years and if I can manage to hold on to a 10th championship that will be amazing,” he said.

“A lot of people told me this season would be somebody else but that made me to work harder to prove everybody the champion is still here.”

O’Shea missed three meetings when he tested positive for Covid, which allowed Fresu to get level on him but once out of isolation the Irishman hit back to build a lead.

“I had to do what all champions do to make it a real battle,” he added. “I always say if people want a battle, give them a war.”

O’Shea revealed the biggest inspiration of his success is his family – wife Debbie and two sons Daragh (11) and Aaron (9).

“My family, wife and two sons, have been a huge help to me with both good times and bad times,” he said.

“You need to have the support of a good family. My two sons are very interested and very involved, and they let me know when they think if I’m on the wrong horse.

“Daragh and Aaron are really interested in racing, which is great. And if both of them want to become jockeys they can take over from the father.”

What is graphene?

Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.

It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.

Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.

By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.

At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.

It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.

But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.

In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties. 

 

Cricket World Cup League 2

UAE squad

Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind

Fixtures

Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE

Tearful appearance

Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday. 

Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow. 

She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.

A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.

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Mina Cup winners

Under 12 – Minerva Academy

Under 14 – Unam Pumas

Under 16 – Fursan Hispania

Under 18 – Madenat

How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
  • The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
  • The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
  • The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
  • The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
  • The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
  • Priority access to new homes from participating developers
  • Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
  • Flexible payment plans from developers
  • Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
  • DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest

Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.

Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.

Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.

Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.

Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.

Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia

PROFILE OF STARZPLAY

Date started: 2014

Founders: Maaz Sheikh, Danny Bates

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: Entertainment/Streaming Video On Demand

Number of employees: 125

Investors/Investment amount: $125 million. Major investors include Starz/Lionsgate, State Street, SEQ and Delta Partners

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

 

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TO A LAND UNKNOWN

Director: Mahdi Fleifel

Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa

Rating: 4.5/5

The biog

Age: 23

Occupation: Founder of the Studio, formerly an analyst at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi

Education: Bachelor of science in industrial engineering

Favourite hobby: playing the piano

Favourite quote: "There is a key to every door and a dawn to every dark night"

Family: Married and with a daughter

The story of Edge

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, established Edge in 2019.

It brought together 25 state-owned and independent companies specialising in weapons systems, cyber protection and electronic warfare.

Edge has an annual revenue of $5 billion and employs more than 12,000 people.

Some of the companies include Nimr, a maker of armoured vehicles, Caracal, which manufactures guns and ammunitions company, Lahab

 

Gothia Cup 2025

4,872 matches 

1,942 teams

116 pitches

76 nations

26 UAE teams

15 Lebanese teams

2 Kuwaiti teams

Financial considerations before buying a property

Buyers should try to pay as much in cash as possible for a property, limiting the mortgage value to as little as they can afford. This means they not only pay less in interest but their monthly costs are also reduced. Ideally, the monthly mortgage payment should not exceed 20 per cent of the purchaser’s total household income, says Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching.

“If it’s a rental property, plan for the property to have periods when it does not have a tenant. Ensure you have enough cash set aside to pay the mortgage and other costs during these periods, ideally at least six months,” she says. 

Also, shop around for the best mortgage interest rate. Understand the terms and conditions, especially what happens after any introductory periods, Ms Glynn adds.

Using a good mortgage broker is worth the investment to obtain the best rate available for a buyer’s needs and circumstances. A good mortgage broker will help the buyer understand the terms and conditions of the mortgage and make the purchasing process efficient and easier. 

MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW

Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman

Director: Jesse Armstrong

Rating: 3.5/5

Traits of Chinese zodiac animals

Tiger:independent, successful, volatile
Rat:witty, creative, charming
Ox:diligent, perseverent, conservative
Rabbit:gracious, considerate, sensitive
Dragon:prosperous, brave, rash
Snake:calm, thoughtful, stubborn
Horse:faithful, energetic, carefree
Sheep:easy-going, peacemaker, curious
Monkey:family-orientated, clever, playful
Rooster:honest, confident, pompous
Dog:loyal, kind, perfectionist
Boar:loving, tolerant, indulgent   

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Sand Castle

Director: Matty Brown

Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

Rating: 2.5/5

RESULTS

4pm: Al Bastakiya Listed US$250,000 (Dirt) 1,900m
Winner: Yulong Warrior, Richard Mullen (jockey), Satish Seemar (trainer)

4.35pm: Mahab Al Shimaal Group 3 $200,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Jordan Sport, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass

5.10pm: Nad Al Sheba Conditions $200,000 (Turf) 1,200m
Winner: Jungle Cat, William Buick, Charlie Appleby

5.45pm: Burj Nahaar Group 3 $200,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Kimbear, Patrick Dobbs, Doug Watson

6.20pm: Jebel Hatta Group 1 $300,000 (T) 1,800m
Winner: Blair House, James Doyle, Charlie Appleby

6.55pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-3 Group 1 $400,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: North America, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar

7.30pm: Dubai City of Gold Group 2 $250,000 (T) 2,410m
Winner: Hawkbill, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.

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Find the right policy for you

Don’t wait until the week you fly to sign up for insurance – get it when you book your trip. Insurance covers you for cancellation and anything else that can go wrong before you leave.

Some insurers, such as World Nomads, allow you to book once you are travelling – but, as Mr Mohammed found out, pre-existing medical conditions are not covered.

Check your credit card before booking insurance to see if you have any travel insurance as a benefit – most UAE banks, such as Emirates NBD, First Abu Dhabi Bank and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, have cards that throw in insurance as part of their package. But read the fine print – they may only cover emergencies while you’re travelling, not cancellation before a trip.

Pre-existing medical conditions such as a heart condition, diabetes, epilepsy and even asthma may not be included as standard. Again, check the terms, exclusions and limitations of any insurance carefully.

If you want trip cancellation or curtailment, baggage loss or delay covered, you may need a higher-grade plan, says Ambareen Musa of Souqalmal.com. Decide how much coverage you need for emergency medical expenses or personal liability. Premium insurance packages give up to $1 million (Dh3.7m) in each category, Ms Musa adds.

Don’t wait for days to call your insurer if you need to make a claim. You may be required to notify them within 72 hours. Gather together all receipts, emails and reports to prove that you paid for something, that you didn’t use it and that you did not get reimbursed.

Finally, consider optional extras you may need, says Sarah Pickford of Travel Counsellors, such as a winter sports holiday. Also ensure all individuals can travel independently on that cover, she adds. And remember: “Cheap isn’t necessarily best.”

ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA

Starring: Nader Abd Alhay, Majd Eid, Ramzi Maqdisi

Directors: Tarzan and Arab Nasser

Rating: 4.5/5

Updated: March 23, 2022, 4:48 AM`