The trainer Musabah Al Muhairi’s charges were in dominant form at Meydan on Thursday night, recording four victories and a pair of runner-up finishes on a six-race card.
Jockey William Twiston-Davies doubled his UAE tally while steering Maltese Cat to score in a 1,400m handicap for Al Muhairi, currently leading the trainers’ championship after amassing his 22nd winner of the season.
“I was always pretty confident as I was travelling nicely just off the pace and he then quickened nicely,” the jockey said. “The yard are in great form and it is just a brilliant experience for me.
“This facility is amazing and I am really looking forward to the start of the Carnival next week and some international competition.”
Fellow apprentice Thomas Brown echoed similar thoughts after winning the following 1,600m on stable companion Jamhoori, denying another Al Muhairi horse, Dairam, in the final strides.
“I am really enjoying my time here in the UAE and was pretty hopeful before the race as I was a very close second on him two starts ago,” Brown said. “He enjoyed that wide passage and clear run in the straight and we just made it in time on this occasion.”
The trainer then saddled another 1-2 with Dane O’Neill aboard Hattaash, who ran on too strongly for stable companion Comicality in the 1,200m handicap. O’Neill rode the winner and the pair stalked the early pace before leading 200m out, after which they were always going to hold on.
The winner, in only his second UAE outing, was doubling his career tally. “He was not disgraced on the Jebel Ali dirt first time, but has relished this Tapeta surface,” O’Neill said. “They went nice and quick early on, which has suited him.
“We knew he liked it here, as he had been working well in the mornings and we were pretty hopeful of a good run like that.”
Paschendale then completed the trainer’s great evening, winning the concluding 1,900m handicap, supplying jockey Andrew Nienaber a winner with his first UAE mount.
Al Muhairi had 16 runners, whereas reigning champion Ernst Oertel, who only has a few thoroughbreds, was without a runner. He remains on 17 wins.
The roles are reversed at Abu Dhabi on Sunday, though, when Oertel has 14 declared and Al Muhairi, who has very few Purebred Arabians, just three entries.
Former Champion Trainer Ali Rashid Al Raihe and stable jockey Royston Ffrench combined for a double, highlighted by Ghaamer, who was the impressive winner of the official feature, a 1,600m handicap.
Keen in the early stages, Ffrench’s mount hit the front almost 600m out, surging clear of his 12 rivals to win impressively, to the delight of Ffrench.
“He has always worked well since he arrived, so we were a bit disappointed with his Jebel Ali run first time,” Ffrench said. “This was much more like the form he has been showing in the mornings and it would be nice to think he has more to offer.”
Racing began with a 1,600m maiden and the Al Raihe-trained Waahy opened his account at the fifth time of asking on his third start in the UAE, having raced twice in Ireland for John Oxx.
Never far off the pace under Ffrench, he hit the front 500m out and was always holding the challenge of old adversary Shaishee, who has now finished behind him three times.
“He ran very well first time and then probably found 2,000m a bit far last time,” Ffrench said. “He should be able to improve on this and both our winners this evening are young horses.”
sports@thenational.ae
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Founders: Michele Ferrario, Nino Ulsamer and Freddy Lim
Started: established in 2016 and launched in July 2017
Based: Singapore, with offices in the UAE, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand
Sector: FinTech, wealth management
Initial investment: $500,000 in seed round 1 in 2016; $2.2m in seed round 2 in 2017; $5m in series A round in 2018; $12m in series B round in 2019; $16m in series C round in 2020 and $25m in series D round in 2021
Current staff: more than 160 employees
Stage: series D
Investors: EightRoads Ventures, Square Peg Capital, Sequoia Capital India
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Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The specs
Common to all models unless otherwise stated
Engine: 4-cylinder 2-litre T-GDi
0-100kph: 5.3 seconds (Elantra); 5.5 seconds (Kona); 6.1 seconds (Veloster)
Power: 276hp
Torque: 392Nm
Transmission: 6-Speed Manual/ 8-Speed Dual Clutch FWD
Price: TBC
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
MATCH INFO
Inter Milan 2 (Vecino 65', Barella 83')
Verona 1 (Verre 19' pen)
Specs – Taycan 4S
Engine: Electric
Transmission: 2-speed auto
Power: 571bhp
Torque: 650Nm
Price: Dh431,800
Specs – Panamera
Engine: 3-litre V6 with 100kW electric motor
Transmission: 2-speed auto
Power: 455bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: from Dh431,800
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Grubtech
Founders: Mohamed Al Fayed and Mohammed Hammedi
Launched: October 2019
Employees: 50
Financing stage: Seed round (raised $2 million)
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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
Company%20Profile
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Profile of Hala Insurance
Date Started: September 2018
Founders: Walid and Karim Dib
Based: Abu Dhabi
Employees: Nine
Amount raised: $1.2 million
Funders: Oman Technology Fund, AB Accelerator, 500 Startups, private backers
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
