Silvestre De Sousa celebrated his first full season in the UAE with a maiden jockey’s championship title.
The Brazilian, who has ridden over 4,000 winners around the world, topped the chart with 54 winners, seven ahead of the 12-time UAE champion jockey Tadhg O’Shea.
The two men had been neck and neck, but De Sousa increased his lead to five after steering the Saeed bin Suroor-trained Dubai Future home in the Group 2 Dubai Gold Cup at the Dubai World Cup meeting, and had the championship virtually in the bag with the last two meetings to go in Al Ain and Abu Dhabi.
De Sousa’s success was achieved through fantastic partnerships with Emirati trainer Musabbeh Al Mheiri and the Purebred Arabian powerhouse of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed’s Yas Racing, the champion trainer and owners, respectively, of the 2024/25 season.
De Sousa rounded off the season by riding the Majid Al Jaoori-trained So’ud to victory in the Group 3 Arabian Triple Crown Round 3 in the silks of Yas Racing at the Abu Dhabi Turf Club on Saturday.
“I'm just delighted with the kind of season I've had, especially to be the leading rider in my first full season in the UAE,” De Sousa told The National.
“It's not easy and that too in my first time in a full season in the UAE. I’m grateful for the support I received from trainer Musabbeh and the owners this season.”
De Sousa, 44, is a three-time British champion jockey (2015, 2017 and 2018) and winner of the 2014 Dubai World Cup on the Bin Suroor-trained African Story, also in the royal blue silks.
He was champion apprentice in Brazil before leaving for Ireland in 2010 and England the following year, establishing himself as one of the leading jockeys in the world.
“I've been around the world. And yeah, I think when you put everything in your career, it's nice to see it pay off,” he said.
“Obviously, I have many people to thank for the successful season I had in the UAE. It was great riding for trainer Musabbeh and Sheikh Mansour’s Yas Racing. I have been to the UAE for a long time but never thought I would ride a full season until this time.
“It was a really nice feeling to win the championship title and also winning the Dubai Gold Cup for Godolphin at the Dubai World Cup meeting. Yeah, I’m taking back a lot of good memories from the UAE this time.
“I go everywhere trying to ride winners and ride some nice horses. It's nice to have a win on the final night in the silks of Sheikh Mansour’s Yas Racing.”
De Sousa made his first visit to the UAE to ride in a few meetings in the 2004/05 season and returned in 2012 to ride his first winner on Bin Suroor’s Songcraft in the Godolphin silks.
He won the 2014 Dubai World Cup on African Story for Bin Suroor and Godolphin and counts 166 winners overall in the UAE.
For Al Mheiri, one of the longest serving trainers in the country, it was his second trainer’s title after previously saddling 49 winners in the 2014/15 season.
“I’m grateful to the owners who had faith in me, and yes, it’s my best ever season and a really tough one to finish on top of the charts,” the Emirati trainer said.
“It was really nice to have had Silvestre on many of my horses. He was brilliant and he’s a three-time British champion jockey.
“To saddle winners nowadays is so tough with so many trainers and good horses at every stable. So, winning the trainer’s title this time around definitely is a better season for me, personally."
UAE%20v%20West%20Indies
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Other key dates
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Finals draw: December 2
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Finals (including semi-finals and third-placed game): June 5–9, 2019
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Euro 2020 play-off draw: November 22, 2019
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Euro 2020 play-offs: March 26–31, 2020
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
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
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
The biog
Family: He is the youngest of five brothers, of whom two are dentists.
Celebrities he worked on: Fabio Canavaro, Lojain Omran, RedOne, Saber Al Rabai.
Where he works: Liberty Dental Clinic
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Essentials
The flights
Whether you trek after mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda or the Congo, the most convenient international airport is in Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali. There are direct flights from Dubai a couple of days a week with RwandAir. Otherwise, an indirect route is available via Nairobi with Kenya Airways. Flydubai flies to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, via Entebbe in Uganda. Expect to pay from US$350 (Dh1,286) return, including taxes.
The tours
Superb ape-watching tours that take in all three gorilla countries mentioned above are run by Natural World Safaris. In September, the company will be operating a unique Ugandan ape safari guided by well-known primatologist Ben Garrod.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, local operator Kivu Travel can organise pretty much any kind of safari throughout the Virunga National Park and elsewhere in eastern Congo.
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
Uefa Nations League: How it works
The Uefa Nations League, introduced last year, has reached its final stage, to be played over five days in northern Portugal. The format of its closing tournament is compact, spread over two semi-finals, with the first, Portugal versus Switzerland in Porto on Wednesday evening, and the second, England against the Netherlands, in Guimaraes, on Thursday.
The winners of each semi will then meet at Porto’s Dragao stadium on Sunday, with the losing semi-finalists contesting a third-place play-off in Guimaraes earlier that day.
Qualifying for the final stage was via League A of the inaugural Nations League, in which the top 12 European countries according to Uefa's co-efficient seeding system were divided into four groups, the teams playing each other twice between September and November. Portugal, who finished above Italy and Poland, successfully bid to host the finals.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg result:
Ajax 2-3 Tottenham
Tottenham advance on away goals rule after tie ends 3-3 on aggregate
Final: June 1, Madrid
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
Read more about the coronavirus
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F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
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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
The specs: 2018 Volkswagen Teramont
Price, base / as tested Dh137,000 / Dh189,950
Engine 3.6-litre V6
Gearbox Eight-speed automatic
Power 280hp @ 6,200rpm
Torque 360Nm @ 2,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 11.7L / 100km
ALRAWABI%20SCHOOL%20FOR%20GIRLS
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE%20SPECS
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Know your Camel lingo
The bairaq is a competition for the best herd of 50 camels, named for the banner its winner takes home
Namoos - a word of congratulations reserved for falconry competitions, camel races and camel pageants. It best translates as 'the pride of victory' - and for competitors, it is priceless
Asayel camels - sleek, short-haired hound-like racers
Majahim - chocolate-brown camels that can grow to weigh two tonnes. They were only valued for milk until camel pageantry took off in the 1990s
Millions Street - the thoroughfare where camels are led and where white 4x4s throng throughout the festival
Zayed Sustainability Prize
