Tadhg O’Shea lightened the mood slightly at the Al Asayl Stables at Abu Dhabi racecourse on Sunday night, following the injury suffered by their stable jockey Gerald Avranche.
O’Shea signed off the seven-race card with a victory after Avranche was reported to have suffered two fractures on his pelvis after being thrown off RB Dixie Burning at the parade ring before the start of the fourth race.
“Gerald had a very bad incident and I wish this win raised the spirits of the stable lads,” O’Shea said after steering Snaffy first past the post in the concluding maiden race for Purebred Arabians at the capital’s penultimate meeting.
The win also took O’Shea’s tally to 42 winners, five ahead of his closest challenger Patrick Dobbs in the UAE jockey’s championship table.
“Pat is riding plenty of winners. I will go flat out too to get a few from the remaining meetings,” O’Shea said, when asked of the challenge as he bids for his fourth UAE jockey’s title.
O’Shea was placed third in two races and runner-up twice before getting into the winner’s enclosure on the Eric Lemartinel-trained four-year-old colt.
Fernando Jara completed a double when he made all of the running on the Satish Seemar-trained Invincible Strike to take the meeting’s solitary race for the thoroughbreds and the Dh 100,000 handicap, the most valuable prize of the meeting.
Jara completed back-to-back victories after steering the Musabah Al Muhairi-trained AF Ssayeb to claim the Wathba Stud Farm Cup half-an-hour earlier.
Nacer Samiri, too, saddled a double under two different jockeys. Harry Bentley produced a late run to win the third race on Haizoom, and Royston Ffrench produced a similar finish on Da’Areen to claim the next.
Abu Dhabi hore racing results from Sunday
Delma Maiden Winner: Bushrah Al Reef, Sam Hitchcock (jockey), Abdulla Al Hammadi (trainer)
Al Falah Handicap Winner: Madjanthis, Harry Bentley, Ernst Oertel
Mizzna Conditions Winner: Haizoom, Harry Bentley, Nacer Samiri
Hamdan Handicap Winner: Da'Areen, Royston Ffrench, Nacer Samiri
Wathba Stud Farm Cup Winner: AF Ssayeb, Fernando Jara, Musabah Al Muhairi
Khalifa Handicap Winner: Invincible Strike, Fernando Jara, Satish Seemar
Al Dinari Maiden Winner: Snaffy, Tadhg O'Shea, Eric Lemartinel
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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
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
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The bio
Who inspires you?
I am in awe of the remarkable women in the Arab region, both big and small, pushing boundaries and becoming role models for generations. Emily Nasrallah was a writer, journalist, teacher and women’s rights activist
How do you relax?
Yoga relaxes me and helps me relieve tension, especially now when we’re practically chained to laptops and desks. I enjoy learning more about music and the history of famous music bands and genres.
What is favourite book?
The Perks of Being a Wallflower - I think I've read it more than 7 times
What is your favourite Arabic film?
Hala2 Lawen (Translation: Where Do We Go Now?) by Nadine Labaki
What is favourite English film?
Mamma Mia
Best piece of advice to someone looking for a career at Google?
If you’re interested in a career at Google, deep dive into the different career paths and pinpoint the space you want to join. When you know your space, you’re likely to identify the skills you need to develop.
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How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
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