With over fifteen years experience working in the international fashion industry, the Paris based event organizers, Kallista Fashions, will host their first business to business fashion fair, Fashion Times Dubai. As a region witnesses sustained growth in the fashion industry, Fashion Times Dubai is set to become a top business to business trade fair that brings together the fashion community from around the world.

The Meydan Grandstand.

International and regional designers are expected to exhibit at the event and buyers from the Middle East have also been invited to attend the much awaited event. Taking place at the prestigious Meydan Grandstand, Fashion Times Dubai is a three-day fair and will take place from 19th – 21st October.

Operating from the fashion capital Paris means that Kallista Fashions resides amongst the top designer labels and a continuous fashion buzz. Having extensive experience in fashion, Kallista Fashions founder Tariq Shan has been responsible for many fashion trade events and fashion showrooms and have played a prominent role in discovering emerging designer talent.

He was the co-founder of Zip Zone Paris which worked with many respected designers including Vivien Westwood, Alessandro dell’ Aqua and Preen and they were the pioneers of introducing the concept of fashion and art. Having hosted several fashion events in art galleries to showcase new collections and labels, they have set trends which has since become a highly successfully and widely used.

Fashion Times Dubai will be a platform to showcase women’s Spring/Summer 2011 collections, including shoes, bags, accessories, scarves and prêt-a-porter. Designers from around the world will be exhibiting their latest collections for top buyers from clothing boutiques to department stores from across the Middle East and Asia.

“Being the region’s hub, we believe Dubai is the perfect location to host Fashion Times event. As the dynamics within the fashion industry constantly changing, the city has embraced the movement and it is destined to make an imprint on the global fashion map. The global recession has affected the entire industry and we feel that through Fashion Times Dubai, buyers do not have to travel to the international exhibitions as they will be able to meet these designers right here. We aim to give designers a strong platform to introduce their work to buyers and to build business ties with them as well as allow buyers to enjoy a spectrum of designers from different markets” said Tariq Shan, Director, Kallista Fashions.

Kallista Fashions aims to make Fashion Times Dubai a regular seasonal event on the international fashion calendar as Dubai cements its position as a major player in the fashion industry. Meydan Grandstand with its five star amenities and unique location is the ideal venue and will facilitate the designers to promote their products in a business environment.

Fashion Times Dubai will be taking place at the Meydan Grandstand from 19th – 21st October 2010.

Ahmed Ajtebi was racing camels until he sat down to lunch with the Ruler of Dubai. Now he is a familiar face in paddocks across the horse-racing world, with his sights set on an Epsom Derby win. Jonny Beardsall meets the UAE’s only home-grown jockey.

Ajtebi rides Dubawi Phantom in the Jaguar All-New XJ Autumn Stakes at Ascot last October. Scott Harvey / Action Images

From the sanctuary of the jockeys’ room at Newmarket racecourse, a diminutive rider from Dubai flashes his beaming smile on a warm July evening in eastern England. “I’m Ahmed Ajtebi. I’ll shower and be with you in a minute,” he says in good, cheerful English, before skedaddling back into the thatched-roofed building to change from royal blue silks to a smart grey suit.

Not that this most likeable 29-year-old, a one-time camel jockey, could be mistaken for anyone else. With deep olive skin, sunken chestnut eyes and short dark hair, he is more supremely skinny than short. His narrow face and chiselled cheekbones imply that he counts the calories, although, at a shade more than 51 kilos, he is sylphlike and so has no need to suffer the extreme deprivation that many jockeys put themselves through.

Another win three days earlier, riding for one of the two super-power Godolphin stables of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, the Ruler of Dubai, had taken Ajtebi’s career tally to 96, a magic number that sees him turn from apprentice to senior jockey.

Given that the sheikh’s other yard retains the celebrated Frankie Dettori – who has ridden more than 3,000 winners – you can imagine Ajtebi has to pinch himself everyday to check he isn’t dreaming.

Simon Crisford, Godolphin’s racing manager, says he doesn’t need to. “Ahmed has done really well. It’s great having him working for our stable and he’s a very popular member of the team. He is an extremely nice man.”

Two years ago Ajtebi’s perfect white teeth first grinned from the sports pages when he became the only Emirati jockey to ride a winner at Royal Ascot. A year later he pulled off the double of his life for Godolphin at the World Cup in Nad al Sheba when he took the Dubai Duty Free race with an inspired piece of front-running on the locally trained Gladiatorus. The same day he snatched victory on the line on Eastern Anthem in a thrilling three-way finish in the Dubai Sheema Classic.

“It was amazing. I was an apprentice and in the space of half an hour I’d ridden two Group 1 winners and won £4 million (Dh22 million) in prize money. Best of all, my dad was there to see me,” he says.

It got better. In November, he won at the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in Santa Anita, California, entering the winner’s enclosure on Vale of York with the UAE flag draped across his back.

This afternoon in Newmarket is bread-and-butter stuff. He has come fifth in a lowly race for two-year-old fillies worth £4,000 (Dh22,000) to the winner. In the unsaddling enclosure he exchanges a few thoughts with trainer Mahmood al Zarooni, also from Dubai, and then sets off across the manicured lawns to weigh-in, his tiny saddle over his forearm, his working day almost done.

As the UAE’s only home-grown jockey, Ajtebi is still pretty unfathomable to British racing. Some will say that purely royal connections – he is the nephew of one of Sheikh Mohammed’s long-standing friends, Saeed Manana – provide his golden opportunities. It is likely that some are envious but none can say that he isn’t making the most of his advantages. He comes with implacable self-belief and, so far, it hasn’t deserted him in or out of the saddle.

“People look at me and say this is the guy from Dubai. I feel that when I ride I do so for my country,” he says, glancing at his showy Chopard wristwatch with the lapis lazuli face, which is thicker than his wrist. “I can’t stop now. I love it and always try my best for those supporting me.”

But unlike most of his weighing room colleagues who could ride before they could walk, Ajtebi didn’t sit on a horse until he was 22. Not that he lacked racecourse experience: as a precocious six-year-old, he was race-riding camels at home, only putting away his whip at 14 when his weight rose above 25kg. By then, he had amassed more than 200 winners from 3,000 rides, mostly for his father, who died last year.

“Dad owned and trained 50 animals a 25-minute drive from the centre of Dubai city,” says Ajtebi.

Seven years ago, when still very much involved with training his father’s camels, he fell into conversation over lunch with Sheikh Mohammed. “He said the UAE had horses in training everywhere in the world, but Dubai had no jockey and would I like the chance to become one. I told him that I had never ridden a horse in my life, but he pushed me.”

In 2003, he and two other Dubai-born apprentices were sent to Ireland to gain experience. Ajtebi was seconded to trainer John Oxx’s stable for four months. “I couldn’t speak any English – I picked it up because I had to,” he says. Back in Dubai, he had his first ride at Nad Al Sheba and became apprenticed to the Dubai trainer Ali al Raihe. His first win came a year later on Al Tharb at Geelong, Australia, where he incurred a Dh600 fine for his over-exuberant celebrations.

After two summers in South Africa he arrived in England in 2007. Clive Brittain, the much-revered Newmarket trainer, became his mentor. “Ahmed came to me as an ordinary apprentice. I find him very genuine. I was very impressed with his work and his dedication. I gave him 17 rides and he rode six winners and he rides one for me tomorrow,” he says.

Since then Ajtebi has remained on a merry-go-round, which takes him from the UAE, where he rides in winter, to Britain, where he rides all summer, with short missions to Europe, the US, Australia and South Africa.

“Britain is the place to improve in racing because it has so many different racecourses,” he says. “Last year I rode a double at the new course, Ffos Las, in Wales, on the day it opened, which made me feel really good.”

Ajtebi has come a long way from racing camels, a ride with scant similarities to a racehorse. “They both have four legs and run very fast,” he says, laughing out loud, which he does often. “The saddles are different, you have no irons, you have one rein and a long camel stick, which you use to try and keep it straight.” Still smiling he hops into his smart Mercedes, for the short drive to his home.

Ajtebi lives alone in Duchess Park, a 26-acre new development in a splurge of tree-lined green space to the south side of Newmarket’s High Street. For a while he has felt like a desert nomad. Although someone has now moved in next door, most of the recently built houses remain unoccupied.

His is a smart yet unremarkable five-bedroom home with a garden in which only a satellite dish has been planted; it badly needs someone to make an oasis, to create the smells an Arab must miss, to grow fruit and roses on the empty lawn.

“Welcome, do come in,” he says, unlocking the white door and stepping inside. He is polite, helpful and courteous; he pours coffee for me and tea without milk for himself with one spoon of sugar. He opens a box of dark chocolates from Harrods and switches off the World Cup that was playing to itself on the large screen television in the sitting room.

He has a young family in Dubai. “My wife, Tahani, stays in Dubai where the children are at school. I have three girls – Mezna, eight, Dhabya, three, and Bakhita, two – and one boy, Mohammed, who is seven, with another child on the way,” he says. “I hope they’ll be coming over soon. I ring home all the time. I sometimes call my mum twice a day, before and after a race.”

His rooms are starkly unrevealing; furnished in the bland style of a show home, the neutral-hued walls and carpets, leather sofas, chairs and coffee table and the shiny kitchen and the beds came with the house. But for framed photographs of Sheikh Mohammed and another of one of the ruler’s sons riding in endurance races and a small snapshot above the fireplace of himself – with a beard – riding in the US, all other meaningless pictures were here when he moved in.

“I don’t have time for furniture shopping,” he says, which is true. Like most professional Flat jockeys he doesn’t have a moment in summer for anything other than racing. “In Britain you are always travelling. Tomorrow I will ride in Newmarket before riding at Doncaster and Newcastle, so I won’t be back till late. The next day, I’ll get up at 5am, drive to Stansted airport, then fly to ride in the Irish Derby. Again I won’t be home before midnight.”

So how does he find his way about? “Sometimes I have a driver, but often I drive myself. It’s easy with satellite navigation… I find the postcode for the course, then away I go. I don’t need a map.”

The Racing Post – the British horse racing daily newspaper – is the extent of his reading material. He doesn’t possess many books, and racing is all he watches on TV, usually his own rides, which he pre-records for post mortems. The weekend we meet, Glastonbury Festival, Wimbledon Tennis Championships and the World Cup are all being staged but he has no interest in any of them, he says.

On a low coffee table lies a recently opened packet of dates. “They give me energy. I’m the only one in the weighing room eating dates. No one else really likes them, so I can safely leave them lying around.” On a worktop, the drifting fragrance from a ceramic jar of aromatic oil fills the rooms, reminding him of the souks and marbled halls back home.

He has a cleaner, so the place is immaculate. There isn’t much in his giant stainless-steel fridge: lettuce, tomatoes, a few eggs, nothing too enticing. “I can cook but, actually, I’m not a big eater. I go to the supermarket in town and live a European life. I’m used to it. My weight is good. But I don’t go drinking or clubbing, I’m not that sort of person.”

Unselfconsciously, he underlines his special relationship with the Ruler of Dubai. He is seeing him later that evening at the Shiekh’s mansion on the edge of town. “Like my car, this house was a gift from him [Sheikh Mohammed]. He feels like he’s my dad. When my father passed away last year, he became closer to me. He treats me as if I am his son.

“He has pushed me so hard… with his money, his horses and his experience.”

So how on earth does Ajtebi cope with the weight of so much expectation? He pauses. “He never puts me under pressure. He has taught me to say what I think. If I disagree about the distance a horse needs or how to ride it, he wants me to say so, and we speak on the phone before and after every race.”

Ajtebi is determined to win the Epsom Derby one day. He had his first ride in the race this year on Buzzword after flying in from Newmarket with his boss in his helicopter. He came eighth. “For me it is the greatest race in the world and I loved riding in front of the Queen of England. One day I hope I’ll succeed,” he says.

As one of only a handful of jockeys riding for stables that always run horses in the Derby, it is not implausible that one day this extraordinarily lucky man just might just pull it off.

The aura of Goldikova (Ire) (Anabaa) hovered over Berkshire for a second day of the Royal Ascot meeting Wednesday, one day after the brilliant miler delivered the first winning stroke to open up the five-day stand.

Byword had the last word in the Prince of Wales's (Frank Sorge/Horsephotos.com)

The hero on Day 2 of England’s most prestigious fixture was BYWORD (Peintre Celebre), a victim of Goldikova in the May 23 Prix d’Ispahan (Fr-G1), who held off fellow Prince Khalid Abdulla-colorbearer Twice Over (Observatory) by a half-length in notching the £450,000 Prince of Wales’s S. (Eng-G1) over 1 1/4 miles. The four-year-old homebred, conditioned in France by Andre Fabre, covered the distance in 2:05.35 over a course rated good-to-firm, good in places.

Like several of the favored winners the previous day, Byword, the 5-2 choice, enjoyed an ideal trip throughout. Tracking in fourth under Maxime Guyon, Byword was always in position to pounce when called upon, rating behind 40-1 pacesetter Tazeez (Silver Hawk), who was followed closely by German invader Wiener Walzar (Dynaformer) and Debussy (Diesis [GB]). Shifted off the inside entering the straight, Byword was forced a little wide by a couple rivals but maintained his momentum inside the final quarter-mile. Finally getting past a determined Tazeez, Byword held on gamely as Twice Over, near the back for much of the running, uncorked his rally too late. The 11-2 second choice Twice Over, last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) third-placer, had three parts of a length on Tazeez at the finish.

Byword, who did not debut until June of last year, placed fourth in both Group outings last season, but has made great strides this term. After prevailing in a listed event at Maisons-Laffitte on April 8, the chestnut ran Goldikova to a half-length in the Prix d’Ispahan at Longchamp, admittedly at a distance slightly beyond the mare’s best.

“I knew he had the ability to win and I was impressed by the ride as I was fearful he could get boxed in,” Fabre revealed. “He has matured. He wasn’t trained much at three because he had a virus and now he is really coming to himself.

“You could call him a revelation as his form as a three-year-old was not at that level, but we have always though he is a really good horse.”

This initial Group 1 triumph follows closely on the success at the highest level of Byword’s half-sister Proviso (GB) (Dansili [GB]), a multiple Group 3 winner in France who has captured the Frank E. Kilroe Mile H. (G1) and Just a Game S. (G1) in her two turf outings this season. For the time being, Fabre intends to keep Byword at distances dominated by his sibling in America.

“He is a horse that can go for the big mile races; he won’t go farther than 10 furlongs,” Fabre said. “Maybe something like the Prix Jacques le Marois (Fr-G1) next.

“I am not sure he can stay further and although the (Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe [Fr-G1]) is a long way off it has to be a doubt. He needs good ground, too, and is unlikely to get that in Paris in October.”

The effort by Twice Over, last year’s Champion S. (Eng-G1) winner who finished 10th, beaten three lengths, in the Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1) in his most recent outing, satisfied trainer Henry Cecil despite the troubled trip.

“He got blocked in and couldn’t get out, and then he was too far back,” Cecil said. “He ran a super race but it wasn’t enough. I hope we’ll go to the Champion S., but that’s up to the Prince.”

Sir Michael Stoute and Ryan Moore, the trainer-jockey combo successful with Abdulla’s Workforce (King’s Best) in the Epsom Derby (Eng-G1) two weeks ago, tasted Royal success in the £125,000 Windsor Forest S. (Eng-G2) when their gray filly STRAWBERRYDAIQUIRI (Dansili [GB]) prevailed over defending champion Spacious (Nayef) in a head-to-head battle that lasted more than a quarter-mile. Neither giving an inch to the other through the long stretch, Strawberrydaiquiri eventually pipped Spacious by a short head while completing the straight mile in 1:38.04. Antara (Platini), the 7-2 favorite, was three lengths farther back in third.

The Windsor Forest was the sixth win in the eight-race career of Strawberrydaiquiri, a three-time listed winner who notched her first pattern victory by a similar margin in the May 2 Dahlia S. (Eng-G3) at Newmarket, where Spacious was fourth lengths third.

Moore achieved his first victory of the Royal meeting in the opening £80,000 Jersey S. (Eng-G3), guiding the Mark Johnston-trained filly RAINFALL (Oasis Dream [GB]) over an otherwise all-male cast to a head decision over the determined early pacesetter Red Jazz (Johannesburg). The seven-furlong dash for three-year-olds was completed in 1:24.94.

A veteran of only two previous starts, Rainfall had won her debut May 1 at Thirsk by six lengths before bowing by less than a length in a listed event at Sandown May 29.

The first significant event of the meeting for two-year-old fillies, the £90,000 Queen Mary S. (Eng-G2), went to 9-4 favorite MAQAASID (Green Desert) for trainer John Gosden and jockey Richard Hills. The strong choice off a half-length debut score at Sandown, Maqaasid registered a neck decision over 7-2 chance Meow (Storm Cat) in a time of :59.17 for five furlongs.

“Her obvious aim is the Cheveley Park (S. [Eng-G1]) and she’ll tell me if she needs to run in between then,” Gosden said.

Maqaasid counts as a fourth dam the English champion juvenile filly Height of Fashion (Fr) (Bustino), who produced standouts such as dual classic winner Nashwan (Blushing Groom [Fr]) and English highweight Nayef (Gulch). She is also the ancestress of U.S. champion turf mare Lahudood (GB) (Singspiel [Ire]) and English classic winner Ghanaati (Giant’s Causeway).

Maqaasid also hails from the family of Grade 1 winner Ask (GB) (Sadler’s Wells), who holds entry in Thursday’s Gold Cup (Eng-G1) at Royal Ascot, as well as Japanese superstar Deep Impact (Sunday Silence). Both descend from Maqaasid’s fifth dam, the dual classic-winning Highclere (GB) (Queen’s Hussar).

TIMEPIECE (Zamindar), an early favorite for the Epsom Oaks (Eng-G1) prior to a second-place effort in the Lingfield Oaks Trial, rebounded from her ninth in the June 4 classic at Epsom with a 1 1/4-length triumph in the £50,000 Sandringham H. A consolation prize for Cecil and jockey Tom Queally following Twice Over’s earlier defeat, the Abdulla homebred completed the straight mile in 1:38.53.

Godolphin registered its first Royal Ascot success with INVISIBLE MAN (Elusive Quality) in the £100,000 Royal Hunt Cup, annually one of the best betting races of the Royal meeting. Conditioned by Saeed bin Suroor and ridden by Frankie Dettori, Invisible Man prevailed by a half-length in a time of 1:37.16 for the straight mile. One of the most noted handicaps of the English flat season, the Royal Hunt Cup featured 29 runners.

Calming Influence takes on some of the world’s top milers today when he makes his first start in Europe since November in the Group One Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Ahmad Ajtebi rides Calming Influence to victory in the Godolphin Mile at Meydan. Pawan Singh / The National

The five-year-old son of King’s Best gave Mahmood al Zarooni his first win when quickening well to land the Group Two Godolphin Mile on Tapeta at Meydan Racecourse but the Godolphin trainer knows he and his jockey Ahmed Atjebi face a tough task to repeat that victory today.

“Calming Influence is well and fit but it looks like it is a very tough renewal of the Queen Anne Stakes this year,” said al Zarooni.“He won nicely out in Dubai and he is in good form at the moment, but he hasn’t run since March and there might be a question mark over him running well over a straight mile – he loved the bends around Meydan.”

Calming Influence lines up against nine others in the Ascot dual, including Breeders’ Cup Mile heroine Goldikova, last year’s winner Paco Boy and Rip Van Winkle, who scored over a mile at Ascot in the Group One Queen Elizabeth II Stakes last year. However, Aidan O’Brien has voiced genuine concerns about Rip Van Winkle.

“Rip Van Winkle is in good form and we think that he has done really well from three to four and definitely gone the right way,” the trainer told The Racing Post. “But because he hasn’t had a run this year, we are genuinely worried about his fitness, as most of our horses usually come on a good bit from their first run.”
Godolphin has won the Queen Anne Stakes seven times, through Charnwood Forest (1996), Allied Forces (1997), Intikhab (1998), Cape Cross (1999), Dubai Destination (2003), Refuse To Bend (2004) and Ramonti (2007).

Henry Cecil’s Twice Over disappointed in the Dubai World Cup at Meydan last time when 10th of the 14 runners, with Mahmood Al Zarooni’s Allybar finishing a highly creditable third.

Watch the 2010 Prince of Wales’s Stakes streamed live online from Royal Ascot today at Ladbrokes. Use the Ladbrokes promotion code MAXIMUMBONUS when signing up to use their live streaming horse racing service.

The Champion Stakes winner from last season is better than he showed that day so cannot be discounted although more solid claims are probably held the selection, BYWORD. Andre Fabre’s colt was only beaten half-a-length by Goldikova in the Group 1 Prix D’Ispahan at Longchamp last month and he can give his handler another winner in the top grade.

Saeed Bin Suroor’s Cavalryman looks best watched following his defeat behind Fame And Glory in the Coronation Cup last time although he may do better over the shorter trip today, while Luca Cumani’s Presvis has not been at his best in recent starts and looks best watched at present.

Sir Michael Stoute’s Glass Harmonium is closely matched with Tazeez on running at Sandown last month and both have claims but a bigger threat is likely to come from Mawatheeq. Marcus Tregoning’s colt lacks a run this term but he showed progressive form last season and is closely matched with Twice Over on running in the Champion. Prix Ganay second Shalanaya is another to consider but it is another French challenger, Byword that looks the one they all have to beat.

DUBAI — The Dubai Department of Economic Development, or DED, honoured the assessors of the Dubai Quality Award (DQA) and Dubai Human Development Award (DHDA) 2009 at a gala dinner held at the Meydan Hotel.

Meydan Hotel

The assessors were presented with certificates in appreciation of their work in assessing the applications for both awards, which included senior professionals who have significant experience in quality management, human resources and general management, coming from all business sectors in the UAE including nationals and non-nationals.

The entities worked together to ensure that each applicant is screened thoroughly in accordance with the parameters laid down by the awards. Each applicant receives a detailed feedback report, which evaluates the company’s strengths and areas of improvement.

“The dedicated efforts of assessors to ensure that quality standards are totally implemented at the various companies which applied for the awards, have gone a long way in spreading awareness and implementation of the culture of quality and excellence in the emirate,” said DED Business Excellence Executive Director Mohammed Juma Bushanain Al Amri.

“The working methodology of the assessors directly impacts the quality of assessments, and the feedback from them holds great value for companies, which can use it as a starting point for identifying areas for improvement.” Since the inception of the awards, the DED has been training over 100 new DQA and DHDA assessors every year.

“The reputation of the awards rests on the strengths and commitment of its assessors. They not only evaluate the applications on the basis of stringent criteria but also consistently convey the message of excellence to their associates and to the companies they evaluate,” Al Amri added.

business@khaleejtimes.com

Learning the racehorse trainer’s art in the Emirates, Mahmood Al Zarooni impressed with his instinctive ability to straighten the kinks in the most wayward of thoroughbreds.

Meydan City

That understanding has served him well when dealing with demanding owners during his fledgling career.

But, with a victory from his first runner as Godolphin’s new trainer – at Meydan on Dubai World Cup night – a third in the Derby and a head defeat in the Irish 1,000 Guineas, it isn’t one he’s been called on to practise on his new boss, Sheikh Mohammed.

“I’ve been working in stables before and I know – everybody knows – how some owners are not easy to deal with,” explains the 33-year-old, “but His Highness is amazing – you would not believe it.”

As assistant to Saeed bin Suroor, Al Zarooni was preparing Godolphin’s horses for the Dubai World Cup fixture when the sheikh arrived at the Al Quoz stables unannounced.

“He told me to jump in the car,” recalls Al Zarooni, who served time with Rod Simpson, Ali Al Raihe and Mubarak bin Shafya before joining Godolphin.

“He was silent, then he told me he had decided to give me a licence. It was sudden and my brain couldn’t take it in.

“At the time I didn’t know how to thank him – it was a shock for me.”

Working on the basis that actions speak louder than words, Al Zarooni forgot about the verbals and focussed on the task of repaying the Sheikh’s faith.

His first opportunity came with Calming Influence in the Group 2 Godolphin Mile, the second race on the World Cup card.

Ridden by Ahmed Ajtebi, the jockey now retained by his Moulton Paddocks stable in Newmarket, the five-year-old won by a length.

“I said I would be happy to finish fourth in a big race at Meydan but, to be honest, I didn’t expect to win,” remembers Al Zarooni.

“What made it really great for me was that it was the first day for Meydan, and World Cup night.

“To have a winner with my first runner – I was very, very happy. I thank God and I thank His Highness for being in Godolphin.”

It wasn’t beginner’s luck. Rewilding made the frame at Epsom, 13 days after Bethrah denied Al Zarooni a first Classic when pipping Anna Salai at the post on the Curragh.

Anna Salai, like Rewilding a graduate of the Andre Fabre equine academy, has been added to the field for Friday’s Coronation Stakes, where she will clash with another filly seeking Redemption, the Henry Ceciltrained Jacqueline Quest.

Inwardly, Al Zarooni will be desperate to crown such a bright beginning to his new role with a Group 1 success. Externally, he’s playing the long game.

“I’m not going to say I’m going to win. I want to get involved and learn more for the future,” he says.

“I’m 33, so I’m still young, and I’m going to see what’s happening and learn.

“Anna Salai ran very well and I hope she can run a good race, but it’s not easy – she is running against some nice fillies, and she was fit and professional when she came from Andre Fabre.

“She hasn’t improved, and she hasn’t gone down.”

The educational process will continue for years to come, but Al Zarooni knows that Newmarket is the ideal place for a man in his position.

“Newmarket is like school for me – it’s the best place in the world to be around horses and to learn, because you’re around the best trainers in the world.

“His Highness took me in the car to show me Moulton Paddocks, and on the way we passed Warren Hill.

“When I saw Warren Hill, I saw something that I can’t express in English – if you learn Arabic, I will tell you!

“I was frightened and excited, but very happy. I watched Newmarket on TV when I was in Dubai, but it is much, much better in reality than on the TV.

“In Dubai we would run once a week at Nad Al Sheba. Here you are running every day and up and down the country, on firm ground and on soft ground.

“There is a great deal of variety, and you learn a lot. I am always watching trainers and trying to follow them.”

One thorny lesson Newmarket’s newest trainer will learn is that the good times can be all too fleeting.

At the end of the 1990’s, bin Suroor, a Derby winner with Lammtarra early in his career, was routinely bagging Europe’s most longed-for trophies.

A dip in the stable’s fortunes – as the original crack squad fleshed out to become a bloated and unmanageable horde – was inevitable.

Jealousy among peers made way for schadenfreude until the trainer’s resurgent 2009 boasted 202 victories across the globe, including 13 in Group 1’s. During the lean times bin Suroor drew support from the sheikh, who resisted the temptation for root-andbranch change to a winning formula in need of just a nip and a tuck.

Neither will there be a knee jerk when Al Zarooni suddenly loses his Midas touch.

“Some owners, who have one horse, will give you a hard life. I have more than 100 horses for His Highness, and I don’t feel one per cent of pressure I felt with private owners before.

“He’s the ruler of Dubai, and if he wasn’t like this he wouldn’t be a ruler.

“He’s been in this game a long time, and he knows the game very well.”

The boxing champion is in Dubai to promote Meydan’s World Cup footie events. He talks sport, allergies and Frank Bruno with Charley Court.

We hear you’re attending Meydan’s World Cup events while you’re in Dubai.
I’m really excited. I’m a massive football fan and gutted I can’t make the World Cup in South Africa. Now it’s finally here, why not make a big thing of it? That’s what they’re doing at Meydan.

Will you be riding any horses?
[Laughs] I don’t ride too often. I found out I’m allergic to horses.

Really? What happens?
I think it’s the flies, but my face and ears start swelling up and my eyes start watering.

Talking of footie, didn’t you score in a Soccer Aid charity match in the UK last week?
Yes – it was unbelievable. I don’t know how the lads at the World Cup feel when they take a penalty, but I got nervous just doing a charity match. I was scared to death. But I have to say mine was the best penalty.

You’ve also been busy launching a clothing range, opening a fitness club, working on Hatton Boxing TV, and mentoring young amateur boxers through Hatton Promotions. Which project has meant the most to you?
Everything, really. I want to do a bit for the youngsters. That’s why I’m here in Dubai. There’s not a lot of boxing in this part of the world, so I’m hoping I can introduce the sport to the Middle East.

White-collar boxing is pretty big over here…
Yeah, who knows? There could be a world of talent out here waiting to be discovered.

Who has been your friendliest boxing opponent?
Paulie Malignaggi [an Italian-American boxer from NYC]. He was really friendly – a bit of a loudmouth before the fight, but he was a genuine and sincere lad. It was the first time I had to hug my opponent after a fight – he cried in the ring, so I put my arms around him to comfort him.

What really winds you up?
[Laughs] I’m actually quite a laid-back guy. But Manchester City [Ricky’s team] haven’t done too well lately and [Manchester] United have, which really gets under my skin.

What has been your most memorable boxing moment?
My win against [Russian-born Aussie boxer] Kostya Tszyu and, through boxing, getting an MBE from the Queen of England. Not many boxers have achieved that.

What do you make of Dubai?
I absolutely love it; it’s hotter than Manchester, that’s for sure. It’s an exciting place that’s always developing. I’m just really enjoying being here.

What do you have planned for the rest of your time here?
I’m doing some speeches. It’s nice to talk to people about my career – it’s my way of saying thank you.

Finally, who is your all-time favourite boxer?
Roberto Duran from Panama. He was exciting, fearless; he never took a step back. I try to model myself on him, my hero.

Meydan’s World Cup screenings, featuring live commentary from Sam Allardyce, Peter Reid and more, continue until July 11. Tickets are Dhs375, including food, drinks and entertainment, from www.robandderek.com.

“Grab that, grab that darling, he’s making it to the finish – YeeaaAAY!” The pretty pert thing in a flaming red micro mini and a gold veiled hat took swift aim, capturing the moment on her Canon D200. “Yipeee Mike, that’s whadda like!”, she squealed gleefully, drawing on a cigarette.

As the crowd roared in orchestrated unison , the winning horse romping home across the finishing lines, Champagne corks spurted into the scenery and curvaceous forms slurped flutes in uninhibited abandon. What else could be de rigeuer at Dubai’s ultra-futuristic , glittering new world class Meydan Racecourse.

We weathered the adrenalin with baited breaths and sultry discomfort. The rising mercury didn’t deter the annual enthusiasm of honchos and bombshells who’d flocked the new venue for the world’s costliest, richest and most honoured racing event. Dubai race goers were there in full fettle, cigars, hombres, Barclays, stetsons, Burberry jackets et al. As the steeds flexed their sinews over the moist tracks under billion-watt glares and digital clocking, necks and intellect craned (including us) to get more than an eyeful of the zipping wins to the finish. Multi-up photo-finish frames declared the triumphant winner of the staggering US$ 10 million Dubai World Cup, Gloria de Campeao.

This Brazilian-bred , French-trained and Swedish-owned six year old phenomenon on fours ridden by Tiago Pereira blazed to victory over ‘Lizard’s Desire’ (jockey, Kevin Shea) and Godolphin’s Allybar by Emirati Jockey Ahmad Ajtebi and other close-call contenders.

But as horses stole the thunder down on the brand new track, on the stands and enclosures a new breed of freedom sashayed parallel attention for roving cameras and video makers. So we encountered babes and belles kow-towing towering hunks and Harley Davidson physique cat-walked their hour glass stats around the events that made memories for the cognoscenti.

Lapping up flashlight attention and visual pampering were voluptuous vixens in shorty short numbers and candy headgear, revealing forms and unpretentious norms lining up for a beauty pageant where more male attraction magnetized looks rather than the winning thirst itself!

Teeny-weeny minis created a flutter and over-the-shoulder winks as flowy ensembles , plenty of peek-a-boos , lots of slender legs balancing on trendy stilettos, metallic blushes and vantage tans made for juicy tabloid tattle. As frothy steins and wine goblets enhanced the mood magic by the quaffsful , the enthusiasm of vanity overtook the actual assemblage of sporting frenzy by light years.

With every visit to Dubai, our eyes capture the diametrical assertion of its mind blowing, iconic architecture and spiraling landmarks, synergized with gallop-ahead fashion trends and uplifting styles. At the city’s endless number of jazzy boutiques and designer temples at the world’s largest Dubai Mall, the Cross-Continental theme wonder of the Ibn Battuta Mall and The Mall of The Emirates with it’s freeze-to-tease ‘Ski Dubai’ slopes, we found affluence cascading down millions on the very finest in body consciousness.

But blue blood haute couture statements created digital frame memories as natty, naughty nymphets and well-decked gents in crumpled linen suits struck more than a pose for photo enthusiasts. Decadent fashion swept curiosity away into the dark night as peacock feathers revealing pencil-sketch curves and outlandish outfits punctuated the style miles with alacrity and confidence. It looked as if this was the very hour of reckoning for the gals at Meydan Racecourse whose often loudly brash and ebriated movements more than suggested couture intentions.

But then fashion is as unpredictable as the stallions’ leap into millions. Showmanship and decadence edged out any competition as shimmering facades beaming fibre optic visions and neon laser displays overwhelmed the equestrian success endorsed and whistlehooted by thousands of spirited spectators and fashionistas.

The spectacular Meydan Racecourse lived up to its opening incarnations to a heady mix of noticeable, show-window folk explicitly out there to impress and be awe-inspiringly impressed. Sizzling expat babes and big bizz bosses wrestling signature neon wheels and festive dash, headed up to the haloed dining precincts of Al Muntaha at the towering Burj Al Arab and its breathtaking 360 degree frames. At Noble House – the Chinese speciality fine dining atop The Raffles Dubai, there were grandstand views of the blazing Meydan Racecourse in all its fluorescent glory and the zillion crystalline reflections that light up the modern enthusiasm of Dubai.

But the eye candy in spectral shades came alive at the stunning Dubai Musical Fountain below the colossal architectural epic the Burj Khalifa. As orchestrated waltz and Tchaikovsky’s renditions synergized with calibrated water jets, thrill and excitement create hair raising awe and open-mouthed impact on the cognoscenti at the son et lumiere extravaganza par excellence.

As we made our way out over the ‘Apron Views’ stands at the Meydan racecourse, shuffling steps up to the exits, revelry had just begun round the Dubai World Cup. Outside as temperatures dipped a bit mercifully and we strolled down to the relieving airconditioned confines of our sedan, the sky spiraling icons on dazzling Sheikh Zayed Road loomed with affirmative arrogance.

That night at the svelte French fine dining restaurant ‘Rive Gauche’ at ‘The Address Dubai Marina’ our vintage Franconian 2007 Castell Aprilles red warmed us to murmur lightly, -“Tis the way Dubai makes it, Tis the way it shall soar…… .”

SportsPro magazine has listed the World Games Stadium in Kaohsiung, Taiwan as the world’s most important sports venue. With a capacity of 55,000, the stadium features 8,844 solar panels, making it the largest solar panelled sports venue in the world.

The stadium, which was designed by Toyo Ito and completed in 2009, generates enough energy to supply 75% of its power needs during an event, and when not in use powers 80% of the surrounding area.

David Cushnan, editor of SportsPro said, “The World Games Stadium might not be the largest or most-used sports venue in the world, but there can be no doubt that, thanks to the environmentally friendly way it has been designed, it is amongst the most significant and could well be a model for the next generation of stadia.

That guaranteed it the number one spot, even against some of the most historic sports venues in the world – the likes of Fenway Park, Augusta, Lord’s and the Melbourne Cricket Ground – and some of the spectacular new facilities like Meydan, the Yas Marina circuit and Soccer City.”