Alex Hammond column: Shergar Cup and Racing League preview
It's a big few days for team events in the world of racing and our Alex Hammond looks ahead to the Shergar Cup and the latest round in the Racing League.
Most things in life revolve around teams. Whether that’s among your family - who is going to put the bins out, walk the dog etc. - in your place of work or even among friends and social groups, there is an element of teamwork. Our hobbies also consist of teams, particularly if you’re an enthusiastic follower of sport.
However, horseracing hasn’t historically fit into that structure, albeit trainers, their staff, jockeys etc. all fit into a team of sorts. There have been team competitions and very successful ones at that. This weekend the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup returns after covid put paid to the competition last year and it has a welcome, familiar feel to it.
Hayley Turner is back for more and there is no greater supporter of Ascot’s race day than Britain’s ground-breaking female rider. There has been much said recently that racing isn’t a team sport, but this competition is going strong having first been run in 1999 at Goodwood, before switching to Ascot a year later.
The idea behind the Shergar Cup was to create something akin to the popular Ryder Cup in golf and for anyone that has attended in the past, or watched on TV, you’ll know that it’s a fun and engaging day.
It can be a bit of a lottery for punters with horses being allocated jockeys and some that have never ridden at the track before. However, the riders that take part are world-class athletes with experience from around the globe, so it adds to the intrigue and excitement to see unfamiliar faces riding.
The concept is simple, it’s a jockey’s competition made up of four teams - Great Britain, Ireland, Rest of the World and The Ladies who battle it out over six races, with points awarded to the first five home in each race. The team with the most points wins the overall prize. There’s also a prize for the leading rider and Hayley Turner has been the recipient of the “Alistair Haggis Silver Saddle” for the last two runnings.
Who are the Shergar Cup teams?
The teams are as follows:
Great Britain: Cieren Fallon, James Doyle and captain is Derby-winning jockey Adam Kirby.
Ireland: David Egan, Tadhg O’Shea and Joe Fanning.
Rest of the World: Kevin Stott, who hails from Denmark, Sean Levey, who was born in Swaziland, and the Italian Andrea Atzeni.
Ladies: Captain is Hayley Turner and she will be joined by Nicola Currie and debutante Mickaelle Michel, who hails from France but is a big star in Japan where she has had a great deal of success.
So, it promises to be fun and engaging, but which horses are fancied to win?
Well, declarations are yet to be made, but I’m hoping to see the following in action.
Race 1 (5f Dash) – Mountain Peak (5/1 with Sky Bet). Trainer Ed Walker has strong claims of top and tailing this card and Mountain Peak comes into this in good form having won a competitive 5f handicap at this track last month. Previous winners Tis Marvellous and Stone Of Destiny are obvious dangers.
Race 2 (2m Stayers) – Speedo Boy (8/1 with Sky Bet). Another recent Ascot winner. He has a 4 lb rise to overcome if he’s to win this competitive staying handicap and, whilst it’s been a long time between drinks for him, he goes well here and should run well at an each-way price.
Race 3 (1m 4f Challenge) – (7/1 with Sky Bet) Colony Queen. Trainer John Mackie is in superb form and so is this mare who has won her last three races since joining her new handler. She has won almost half of the races she has run in and is exceptionally versatile.
Race 4 (Mile) – Dashing Roger (6/1 with Sky Bet) with the proviso that Anythingtoday (9/1 with Sky Bet) is on my shortlist if he gets into the race. Dashing Roger won’t mind if the forecast rain arrives and, whilst he’s creeping up the handicap, there could be more still to come. Anythingtoday won on his debut for trainer George Boughey and has won off higher marks than this in the past.
Race 5 (1m 4f Classic) – Possible Man (7/1 with Sky Bet). Got his head back in front when teaming up with the excellent David Probert at Nottingham last time out and is in good hands to progress further. Sir Michael Stoute’s colt tries this trip for the first time.
The other King Power-owned runner, Star Caliber (13/2) is one to watch also as a drop back to 12 furlongs should help him settle better after being keen over two miles last time out. He’s got plenty of potential.
Race 6 (6f Sprint) – Popmaster (9/2 with Sky Bet). Finally got his head back in front at Doncaster a week ago and if he comes out of that well this is the plan. That could just be the confidence booster he required to continue to progress. He could cap off a good day for in-form trainer Ed Walker.
Let’s hope they give us something to shout about, and I’ll see you bright and early at the track on Sky Sports Racing for all the build-up.
The Racing League is another team event that I’m lucky enough to experience first-hand. Round one got underway at Newcastle last Thursday and round two is imminent.
Like all new concepts it has met resistance and I’d be lying if I said I had no reservations about the concept at all. However, last week was huge fun and the vibe at the track was exceptionally enjoyable. Every jockey we spoke to on Sky Sports Racing was enthusiastic about the concept. Prize-money of £50k a race is motivating for the riders, but it was encouraging to hear them all say that they had spoken with their teammates in the run up to the meeting and they felt there was a real buzz around the series.
That sort of enthusiasm rubs off and with Frankie Dettori riding at Doncaster he should add to the razzmatazz. It deserves a chance after the hard work that has been put in by the organisers and it’s been encouraging to get plenty of positive feedback after the inaugural fixture.
For those of you that haven’t yet bought into the concept, then at the very least we enjoy six uber-competitive races every meeting, with some smart handicappers taking their chance. That is reason enough to tune in and I hope to hear from some of you after you have watched one of the Thursday evenings in our company to see what you think.
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