Real Steel denied chance to defend Dubai Turf
Defending Dubai Turf champion Real Steel has been withdrawn from the US$6 million (Dh22m) contest at Meydan on Saturday.
The Japanese raider was due to work Tuesday but was found to have bled from both nostrils.
At the time of writing he had yet to be replaced, and there were 13 left in the 2,410-metre contest. The safety limit is 16.
The five-year-old gelding, trained by Yoshito Yahagi, was due to be ridden by Christophe Lemaire.
Real Steel easily saw off the challenge of Euro Charline 12 months ago but had not been in the same form since.
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Read more
■ Dubai World Cup: All you need to know
■ Racecard: Provisional runners across all nine races
■ Chad Summers: From aspiring jockey to newly minted trainer
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Ballydoyle team arrive in Dubai
Aidan O’Brien’s bumper raiding party arrived at the international quarantine barn on Tuesday morning. The nine-strong party flew from Shannon Airport in the Republic of Ireland and travelled in two horseboxes from Dubai International Airport.
The Ballydoyle team are led by Highland Reel and Seventh Heaven, who both run in the Dubai Sheema Classic. Deauville and Cougar Mountain run in the Dubai Turf while Lancaster Bomber and Spirit Of Valour represent him in the UAE Derby. Kingfisher takes his chance in the Dubai Gold Cup, while Washington DC runs in the Al Quoz Sprint.
Furia Cruzada needs to take it easy
Furia Cruzada has not been the easiest at morning track work this week and the only mare in the Dubai World Cup field will be equipped with a hood to go to post before the US$10 million race on Saturday.
“It is a big international meeting. There is music and all sorts of other distractions,” trainer Erwan Charpy said. “The pressure can get to these horses. We will play around and try to chill her out. Realistically, she is out to get as close to Arrogate as possible.”
Debt Collector out in the big wide world
Singaporean racing has hit the skids in recent seasons with the loss of their international meeting and funding problems. Debt Collector is out to change that impression with a big run in the Dubai Turf, but trainer Cliff Brown is concerned at the strength of the field.
“He’s the best horse in Singapore but this is a very strong race and that is the main problem we face,” he said. “It’s like he’s moving from the goldfish bowl to the wide open ocean.”
Navarro late to the party
Jorge Navarro is back at Meydan for a second year in a row. Last season the US-based trainer saddled XY Jet to finish second in the Dubai Golden Shaheen and is responsible for Saturday’s Godolphin Mile favourite Sharp Azteca. Navarro’s experience here has clearly not stood him in good stead.
“I overslept and when I got to the barn at 6.15am they were already walking him,” he said, sheepishly.
“I was like, ‘What are you doing? You’re supposed to wait for me!’
“And they said, ‘No, Jorge, we had to take him out, he was on his toes’.
“We’ve done everything right, he has done everything right – it’s up to him now.”
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Richard Flanagan
Chatto & Windus
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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
Emiratisation at work
Emiratisation was introduced in the UAE more than 10 years ago
It aims to boost the number of citizens in the workforce particularly in the private sector.
Growing the number of Emiratis in the workplace will help the UAE reduce dependence on overseas workers
The Cabinet in December last year, approved a national fund for Emirati jobseekers and guaranteed citizens working in the private sector a comparable pension
President Sheikh Khalifa has described Emiratisation as “a true measure for success”.
During the UAE’s 48th National Day, Sheikh Khalifa named education, entrepreneurship, Emiratisation and space travel among cornerstones of national development
More than 80 per cent of Emiratis work in the federal or local government as per 2017 statistics
The Emiratisation programme includes the creation of 20,000 new jobs for UAE citizens
UAE citizens will be given priority in managerial positions in the government sphere
The purpose is to raise the contribution of UAE nationals in the job market and create a diverse workforce of citizens
JAPANESE GRAND PRIX INFO
Schedule (All times UAE)
First practice: Friday, 5-6.30am
Second practice: Friday, 9-10.30am
Third practice: Saturday, 7-8am
Qualifying: Saturday, 10-11am
Race: Sunday, 9am-midday
Race venue: Suzuka International Racing Course
Circuit Length: 5.807km
Number of Laps: 53
Watch live: beIN Sports HD
Things Heard & Seen
Directed by: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, James Norton
2/5
MATCH INFO
Juventus 1 (Dybala 45')
Lazio 3 (Alberto 16', Lulic 73', Cataldi 90 4')
Red card: Rodrigo Bentancur (Juventus)
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.”
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
Apple product price list
iPad Pro
11" - $799 (64GB)
12.9" - $999 (64GB)
MacBook Air
$1,199
Mac Mini
$799
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Revibe%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hamza%20Iraqui%20and%20Abdessamad%20Ben%20Zakour%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Refurbished%20electronics%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunds%20raised%20so%20far%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2410m%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFlat6Labs%2C%20Resonance%20and%20various%20others%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
MATCH INFO
Southampton 0
Manchester City 1 (Sterling 16')
Man of the match: Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City)
My Country: A Syrian Memoir
Kassem Eid, Bloomsbury
