Royston Ffrench steers Down On Da Bayou to victory at Jebel Ali in January, 2022. Photo: DHRIC
Royston Ffrench steers Down On Da Bayou to victory at Jebel Ali in January, 2022. Photo: DHRIC
Royston Ffrench steers Down On Da Bayou to victory at Jebel Ali in January, 2022. Photo: DHRIC
Royston Ffrench steers Down On Da Bayou to victory at Jebel Ali in January, 2022. Photo: DHRIC

Racing returns to Meydan with Down On Da Bayou leading charge in season opener


Amith Passela
  • English
  • Arabic

UAE's racing season steps up the pace this Friday with the first Meydan meeting of the new campaign.

The season kicked off last week with three meetings across Al Ain, Jebel Ali and Sharjah, but the first at the racing headquarters brings out the quality with a seven-race card for the thoroughbreds highlighted by a couple of handicaps for horses rated 80 to 100.

Down On Da Bayou, the 2020 Group 3 UAE Oaks winner, in the silks of the Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed heads the 10-runner field run over the 1,600-metre distance.

Trained by Salem bin Ghadayer and with Royston Ffrench in the saddle, the five year old mare won twice, at Jebel Ali, last season during which she was mostly in good form throughout.

Doug Watson has three entered in the race with stable jockey Pat Dobbs aboard Faithful Soldier, winner of half his four career starts to date.

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Scabbard under Sam Hitchcott and Far Sky with Dane O’Neill on top of, complete Watson’s trio.

“They are all in good form,” the American said. “Far Sky seems to have matured and like Scabbard has plenty of experience whereas Faithful Soldier has shown lots of potential in just four starts. Hopefully they can all run well in a competitive looking field.”

The second of the joint features is a 1,900m handicap in which Watson saddles Al Qaqaa, a 2000m handicap winner on this card last year under Dobbs for Shadwell. O’Neill, retained by the owners, is in the saddle on this occasion.

Bin Ghadayer and the UAE champion trainer Bhupat Seemar are both doubled handed in the seven-runner race.

Book Review is Ffrench’s choice ahead of stablemate Grand Bazaar of the Bin Ghadayer’s duo, while champion jockey Tadhg O’Shea rides George Villiers of the two Seemar runners. Apprentice Connor Planas is on-board Twelfthofneverland in the Zabeel Stables’ other runner.

“It took a while to get George Villiers going last season but we have been able to get him ready early this time,” Seemar said of the seven year old Dubawi gelding.

“He runs here and will then go to Sharjah where he won a nice prize last season. He is doing good at home as is Twelfthofneverland.

“He is lazy at home so it is not always easy to gauge but he seems in good form and ready for a race. He has a good record under apprentices so we were happy to put Connor up.”

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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The specs
 
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
EMILY%20IN%20PARIS%3A%20SEASON%203
%3Cp%3ECreated%20by%3A%20Darren%20Star%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Lily%20Collins%2C%20Philippine%20Leroy-Beaulieu%2C%20Ashley%20Park%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%202.75%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Biog

Mr Kandhari is legally authorised to conduct marriages in the gurdwara

He has officiated weddings of Sikhs and people of different faiths from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Russia, the US and Canada

Father of two sons, grandfather of six

Plays golf once a week

Enjoys trying new holiday destinations with his wife and family

Walks for an hour every morning

Completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Loyola College, Chennai, India

2019 is a milestone because he completes 50 years in business

 

Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.

United States

2.

China

3.

UAE

4.

Japan

5

Norway

6.

Canada

7.

Singapore

8.

Australia

9.

Saudi Arabia

10.

South Korea

US%20federal%20gun%20reform%20since%20Sandy%20Hook
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Bombshell

Director: Jay Roach

Stars: Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron, Margot Robbie 

Four out of five stars 

UK-EU trade at a glance

EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years

Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products

Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries

Smoother border management with use of e-gates

Cutting red tape on import and export of food

MATCH INFO

Inter Milan 2 (Vecino 65', Barella 83')

Verona 1 (Verre 19' pen)

Jawan
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAtlee%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Shah%20Rukh%20Khan%2C%20Nayanthara%2C%20Vijay%20Sethupathi%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E4%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
  • Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
  • Power: 640hp
  • Torque: 760nm
  • On sale: 2026
  • Price: Not announced yet
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs

Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12

Power: 819hp

Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm

Price: From Dh1,700,000

Available: Now

Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?

The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.

Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.

New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.

“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.

The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.

The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.

Bloomberg

UAE SQUAD

Goalkeepers: Ali Khaseif, Fahad Al Dhanhani, Mohammed Al Shamsi, Adel Al Hosani

Defenders: Bandar Al Ahbabi, Shaheen Abdulrahman, Walid Abbas, Mahmoud Khamis, Mohammed Barghash, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Hassan Al Mahrami, Yousef Jaber, Salem Rashid, Mohammed Al Attas, Alhassan Saleh

Midfielders: Ali Salmeen, Abdullah Ramadan, Abdullah Al Naqbi, Majed Hassan, Yahya Nader, Ahmed Barman, Abdullah Hamad, Khalfan Mubarak, Khalil Al Hammadi, Tahnoun Al Zaabi, Harib Abdallah, Mohammed Jumah, Yahya Al Ghassani

Forwards: Fabio De Lima, Caio Canedo, Ali Saleh, Ali Mabkhout, Sebastian Tagliabue, Zayed Al Ameri

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Updated: November 04, 2022, 2:39 AM`