Mohammed at Super Saturday Carnival

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, attended on Saturday the final round of Super Saturday race, the penult meet of the Dubai World Cup Carnival, slated for March 28, at Meydan Racecourse.

Sponsored by Emirates Airlines, the race saw the attendance of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammad bin Rashid al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, Head of the Dubai Land Department Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum, Sheikh Saeed Maktoum Al Maktoum, Sheikh Juma Dalmook Al Maktoum and a crowd of horse race enthusiasts.

Noting that Meydan is the home of the world's horseracing elite, Sheikh Mohammed expressed his happiness over the large turnout of participants at the 20th edition of the Dubai World Cup.

Stressing his participation at the Dubai World Cup, Sheikh Mohammed further expressed satisfaction over Godolphin’s Sky Hunters win in the Group 2 Dubai City of Gold.

On the participation of American horse of the year California Chrome, winner of the Triple Crown round, Sheikh Mohammed said it is an honour to host world horseracing elites, wishing the best of luck to all participants.

On his part, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed praised the surmountable success of Godolphin’s Sky Hunter, clinching the title of Dubai City Gold, before verifying his participation at Dubai World Cup on March 28.

The carnival commenced with the Al Maktoum Challenge for Purebred Arabian, won by Versac PY, owned by Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum and trained by Erwan Charpy. The mount of Paul Hanagan finished the final round of the Al Maktoum Challenge, over 2000m (dirt), in 2:19:33 minutes.

Godolphin’s Sky Hunter, for trainer Saeed bin Surour, won the Group 2 Dubai City of Gold. Sky Hunter, ridden by James Doyle, finished the race in 2:32:88 minutes.

Godolphin’s African Story, for trainer Saeed bin Surour, run the seventh round of the 2000m Group 1, under the rider James Doyle, recording 2:4:92 minutes.

Jebel Hatta, Group 1, turf, 1,800m was won by Godolphin’s Hunter’s Light, finshing in 1:47:97 minutes

Mohammed launches fourth phase of Government Excellence Programme

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai launched today the fourth phase of the Government Excellence Programme, the-first-of-its-kind worldwide initiative tailored to improve government performance.

The fourth phase of Government Excellence Programme aims to create a qualitative leap in services provided to the public, based on the criteria of vision, innovation and methods adopted to achieve people’s satisfaction and consequently their happiness.

On this occasion Sheikh Mohammed said that the fourth phase launched represents the new phase of excellence in government services, a step constitutes a precedent in the efforts dedicated to improving future government services for the benefit of UAE citizens.

“The fourth phase of Government Excellence Programme complements the government excellence projects launched over the last 20 years, initiated by The Dubai Quality Award of 1994”, Sheikh Mohammed said.

Sheikh Mohammed added that we have come a long, successful way in our endeavors to achieve excellence that the world bears witness to its achievements; thus, making the UAE one of the world's leading countries on competitiveness indices.

“Today we want to move to the next level in this regard, towards achieving result-based excellence”, His Highness added.

Sheikh Mohammed went on to explain that in our race to achieve number one position, we look at excellence as a challenge rather than a mere accomplishment, for the latter is what we’ve attained for the future of our people and country; whereas excellence is an on-going process and is not restricted by the boundaries of time and place.

Present at the launch were Dubai Deputy Ruler Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Cabinet Affairs Minister Mohammed Abdullah Al Gergawi.

Mohammed attends endurance race

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, on Saturday, attended the Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Endurance Festival, which featured a 120km race at the Emirates International Endurance Village, Al Wathba.

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, and Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and UAE Minister of Finance, attended the race alongside Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid.

Abdullah Ghanim Al Merri, from F3 Endurance Stables, won the title of the festival with 04:18:30, followed by runner-up Salim Hamad Malhouf Al Ketbi, from Al Asefa Stables, with 04:18:31, and second runner-up Ghanim Saeed Al Owaisi ,from F3 Endurance Stables, with 04:18:32.

Some 172 male and female riders competed in the race which had a purse of  three brand new 4x4 vehicles for the first three winners and Dh30,000 for any rider who was able to finish the race.

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