Jim Crowley knows the meaning of hard graft.
It will be a useful attribute for Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid’s new No 1 rider both at the Dubai World Cup Carnival that starts at Meydan Racecourse on January 7, and back in Europe and beyond.
Crowley, 38, put his body on the line this autumn as he wrested the British jockeys’ title away from the grasp of Silvestre De Sousa, the former Godolphin rider, who looked to have the championship wrapped up in late summer.
A determined Crowley threw himself into the challenge of trying to usurp De Sousa.
While he was rewarded with the title a few weeks after he had sealed the championship in mid-October, he was involved in a four-horse pile-up that left fellow jockey Freddy Tylicki paralysed below the waist.
Crowley’s nose was broken and he was kicked and mauled all over so much that it took him six weeks to recover.
Read more:
■ Dubai World Cup Carnival: Geoffrey Riddle's five horses to watch
■ Year in review: The best of 2016 in horse racing
■ 2017 schedule: Bumper entry for Dubai World Cup Carnival
When The National sat down to discuss his new appointment in place of the Paul Hanagan, it is like coming face-to-face with Crowley 2.0.
Gone are the sunken sockets, the hauntingly determined look. They have been replaced by a fuller, more satisfied version. His nose is even fairly straight.
Crowley rode over 1,000 mounts in Britain in 2016.
There will be no such terrifying demands on his time in Dubai, where there are 15 fixtures at Meydan from now until World Cup night on March 25.
But Crowley does not intend on having a relaxing time.
“It is not my style to sit back and take it easy,” Crowley said. “It’s going to be interesting and I am very much looking forward to the challenge.
“The more you ride the better you are and it keeps your eye in. Wherever Sheikh Hamdan has runners I will go, and possibly will go if I don’t.”
At the business end of his tussle with De Sousa, Crowley employed a driver and regularly criss-crossed Britain by air.
“Towards the end I was doing a lot of flights but we you can only do it twice a week because you are only allowed to ride at nine meetings a week in Britain,” he said. “We would plan where we were going and look if there were two tracks close by.
“Silvestre is probably the toughest man to come up against. He has no weight troubles and is built like a little tank. He is strong and horses run for him, and we had a really good ding-dong.
“Like anything it made me stronger and better. You have to raise your game. I would say he needed a holiday after that, too.”
Crowley is the obvious choice to replace Hanagan, but in many ways he also is a curious one.
Sheikh Hamdan has proven to be a loyal owner in the past, but does Hanagan’s experience leave Crowley a little nervous going into one of the biggest jobs in world racing?
“I am not thinking stuff like that,” he said. “All I can do is my job on the track. I am not thinking what is going to happen. I just have to take it day by day. You can only do your best.”
Crowley has come through the ranks. His parents were in point-to-point racing and he started out as a jumps jockey. He made the switch to the flat in 2006 and was riding for Ralph Beckett in 2010.
In 2014 he went freelance and was retained briefly by Jim Hay, the Dubai-based businessman. He has little experience riding top-class horses at the highest level. When you ask him what is the best horse he has ridden, instead of saying Lord Shanakill, the horse on which he won the 2009 Prix Jean Prat — one of three wins at the highest level on his CV — he mentions Talent, the staying filly who won a Coronation Cup without him.
It is the one of three unknowns about him. The others are how he will adapt to riding regularly on the dirt of the UAE and riding Sheikh Hamdan’s beloved Arabians.
Richard Hills knows acutely what it takes to operate in the role, having ridden for Sheikh Hamdan for 18 years. The three-time Dubai World Cup night winner still works within the Shadwell umbrella as assistant racing manager to Angus Gold. Hills will act as Crowley’s chaperone in Dubai during the build-up to the first Carnival fixture.
He will introduce Sheikh Hamdan to his retained jockey for the first time and will show him around the yards of the likes of Doug Watson, Musabbeh Al Mheiri, Erwan Charpy and Mike De Kock, who all train for the Minister of Finance.
Hills revealed why Crowley topped the shortlist. “We spoke to all of the trainers,” he said.
“Jim has been riding with tremendous confidence all year and worked very hard for his title, too. He is a nice guy and ticked all the right boxes.
“I have no doubt he can step up to riding the good horses. I have ridden against him and he won’t be fazed by it.
“I spoke with my brother Michael, who rides work with Hugo Palmer, and Jim’s feedback there has been excellent.”
Crowley got off the mark with his first ride for his prominent retainer when he guided Naseem to a five-length win at Chelmsford on December 22.
Despite Hanagan’s short-lived time in the famous blue and white silks, Crowley hopes to occupy the position for a very long time.
“As a jockey there is no point in being good at one thing,” he said. “You have to be a good judge of a horse and pace. It helps if you are strong at the finish and tactically aware. You have to get off the horse and be able to communicate with people.
“I am a good horseman and I have grown up with horses all of my life. I am a good judge of a horse. You never stop improving though. Look at Mick Kinane — he was best on Sea The Stars aged 50.”
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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WORLD RECORD FEES FOR GOALKEEPERS
1) Kepa Arrizabalaga, Athletic Bilbao to Chelsea (£72m)
2) Alisson, Roma to Liverpool (£67m)
3) Ederson, Benfica to Manchester City (£35m)
4) Gianluigi Buffon, Parma to Juventus (£33m)
5) Angelo Peruzzi, Inter Milan to Lazio (£15.7m
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
The Pope's itinerary
Sunday, February 3, 2019 - Rome to Abu Dhabi
1pm: departure by plane from Rome / Fiumicino to Abu Dhabi
10pm: arrival at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
Monday, February 4
12pm: welcome ceremony at the main entrance of the Presidential Palace
12.20pm: visit Abu Dhabi Crown Prince at Presidential Palace
5pm: private meeting with Muslim Council of Elders at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
6.10pm: Inter-religious in the Founder's Memorial
Tuesday, February 5 - Abu Dhabi to Rome
9.15am: private visit to undisclosed cathedral
10.30am: public mass at Zayed Sports City – with a homily by Pope Francis
12.40pm: farewell at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
1pm: departure by plane to Rome
5pm: arrival at the Rome / Ciampino International Airport
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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
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
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)
Sting & Shaggy
44/876
(Interscope)
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 biog
Favourite Quote: “Real victories are those that protect human life, not those that result from its destruction emerge from its ashes,” by The late king Hussain of Jordan.
Favourite Hobby: Writing and cooking
Favourite Book: The Prophet by Gibran Khalil Gibran
BACK%20TO%20ALEXANDRIA
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ETamer%20Ruggli%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENadine%20Labaki%2C%20Fanny%20Ardant%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
MATCH INFO
What: 2006 World Cup quarter-final
When: July 1
Where: Gelsenkirchen Stadium, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Result:
England 0 Portugal 0
(Portugal win 3-1 on penalties)
Key Points
- Protests against President Omar Al Bashir enter their sixth day
- Reports of President Bashir's resignation and arrests of senior government officials
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Jawan
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WITHIN%20SAND
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Kathryn Hawkes of House of Hawkes on being a good guest (because we’ve all had bad ones)
- Arrive with a thank you gift, or make sure you have one for your host by the time you leave.
- Offer to buy groceries, cook them a meal or take your hosts out for dinner.
- Help out around the house.
- Entertain yourself so that your hosts don’t feel that they constantly need to.
- Leave no trace of your stay – if you’ve borrowed a book, return it to where you found it.
- Offer to strip the bed before you go.
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
DIVINE%20INTERVENTOIN
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