Tadhg O’Shea capped a busy weekend of four race meetings by landing the Ruler of Sharjah Cup for Purebred Arabians on Sunday.
It was the Irishman’s fifth winner over four days, with his success on AF Maqam taking his tally to 58 and 13 ahead of his closest challenger Antonio Fresu in the UAE jockey’s championship race.
AF Maqam’s victory also completed a double for trainer Ernst Oertel and the Emirati owner-breeder Khalid Khalifa Al Naboodah after Brazilian apprentice Marcelino Rodrigues landed the second race on AF Qadeh in Sharjah's final meet of the season.
The double took Al Naboodah’s tally to 33 to guarantee him a fourth UAE owner’s championship crown.
Drawn widest of the 10 runners, O’Shea worked his way up to settle behind Yas Xmnsor (Amur Al Rasbi) and Fadiah Al Wathba (Bernardo Pinheiro) before producing a strong run on the home stretch to win by a neck.
Ray Dawson also completed a double by taking the opener on Jaber Bittar’s Azzouz and the concluding thoroughbred handicap on board Ahmad bin Harmarsh’s Dubai Vision.
Jaci Wickham, the longest serving female trainer, celebrated her first winner of the season when Sam Hitchcott steered Mutefjr W'Rsan to victory in the third race.
Richard Mullen on Salem Al Ketbi’s Kadar bagged the remaining prize when he produced a strong late run from the back of the field to get the better of Winked and Shamakh.
Results
2.45pm: Longines Master Collection – Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 (Dirt) 1,200m
Winner: Azzouz, Ray Dawson (jockey), Jaber Bittar (trainer)
3.15pm: Legend Driver Collection – Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 (D) 1,000m
Winner: Al Qadeh, Marcelino Rodrigues, Ernst Oertel
3.45pm: Dolcevita Collection – Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Mutafjr W’Rsan, Sam Hitchcott, Jaci Wickham
4.15pm: Sharjah Marathon – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 2,700m
Winner: Kadar, Richard Mullen, Salem Al Ketbi
4.45pm: The Ruler of Sharjah Cup – Prestige (PA) Dh250,000 (D) 1,700m
Winner: AF Maqam, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
5.15pm: Longines Record Collection – Handicap (TB) Dh40,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Dubai Vision, Ray Dawson, Ahmad bin Harmash
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The specs
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
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The annual report by the Community Security Trust, which advises the Jewish community on security , warned on Thursday that anti-Semitic incidents in Britain had reached a record high.
It found there had been 2,255 anti-Semitic incidents reported in 2021, a rise of 34 per cent from the previous year.
The report detailed the convictions of a number of people for anti-Semitic crimes, including one man who was jailed for setting up a neo-Nazi group which had encouraged “the eradication of Jewish people” and another who had posted anti-Semitic homemade videos on social media.
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
