I’m off to Ascot on Saturday for the annual Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup, currently the only team competition in racing and one that has stood the test of time.
Ascot have attracted some very talented riders for this year’s competition with Ryan Moore back for the first time in 20 years, alongside the likes of Irish Champion Dylan Browne McMonagle and Saffie Osborne for Great Britain and Ireland, and Team Hong Kong a new addition to the line-up. Ascot have not stood still when it comes to evolution, and this competition is no different as they mark 25 years of the event.
There’s no doubt that GB & Ire look exceptionally strong and are hot favourites to win outright, with Ryan Moore favourite to win a second Alistair Haggis Silver Saddle (leading rider) award on just his second appearance. Here’s a spin through the horses (and riders) we should be following across the six handicap races.
Race one is the Dash over five furlongs and whilst I have professed my undying love to Tuco Salamanca over the last couple of seasons, I’m not sure how he will fare over this trip. He’s an operator over six and seven furlongs when things drop right but I’d be concerned about this, albeit on a stiff track.
With that in mind I’m jumping ship and going tentatively with top weight Kendall Roy. The fact he has an entry in the group 1 Flying Five tells you trainer Kate McGivern holds him in some regard and whilst he may not have shown quite enough to make an impact at that level, he’s in his comfort zone here. We’ve seen Frida Valle Skar ride plenty of winners in France and this could be a strong start on her Shergar Cup debut.
Next up it’s the Stayers over almost two miles. Encouraging Ryan Moore to ride at just his second Shergar Cup and his first in 20 years is a serious coup for Ascot, particularly given that the standard of riding has occasionally slipped below world class, and therefore come in for criticism.
Shrimp Shady has an excellent chance of giving Moore a winner for Andrew Balding, who has won this race three times in the past. This four-year-old looks like a progressive stayer to me. He acquitted himself well in winning a decent contest at Newbury last time out. He hit the front and drifted left under a right handed drive so can be forgiven that and had to rally when the runner up came at him in the closing stages. I thought he showed a willing attitude and did well in those circumstances. Andrew Balding must have been doing handsprings when the draw allocated Moore to his runner.
The third race is the Challenge over a mile and a half. My pick here, Fantasy Believer, isn’t a horse I’d have my house on but there are a few things in his favour. Namely, Saffie Osborne, who knows this horse like the back of her hand and has won five races on him, including two in the fiercely competitive Racing League arena. He has a horrible habit of giving start to his rivals but has overcome that impressively on more than one occasion.
Osborne had said in the past that you just have to let him get on with it, and those two have proved a potent partnership in the past. He’s relatively fresh having only run three times this season and is back on his last winning mark. He also goes well at this venue and whilst the trip is a slight concern, he ran well over this course and distance in a hot handicap at the King George meeting two weeks ago, which must have given connections some encouragement to run here.
Then we have the Sprint over six furlongs and it’s a toss up between Cape Ashizuri and Thunder Call for me. The former could offer decent each way value with the excellent Dylan Browne McMonagle on board and he’s an upwardly mobile three-year-old. The latter is favourite to win for trainer William Haggas and Hong Kong jockey Jerry Chau. The horse comes here off the back of a good run when finishing third in a heritage handicap at Newmarket. He won on handicap debut at York and is another improving type.
The penultimate race is the Classic, also over a mile and a half but for three-year-olds only and my banker runs here. Saffie Osborne is one of the leading contenders to win the Silver Saddle behind Ryan Moore, and the three time Racing League leading rider has picked up a plum ride on Hoseki in this. The William Haggas trained filly comes here off the back of three consecutive wins, including over course and distance last time out.
She holds a Group 1 entry in the Champion Fillies and Mares back at Ascot in October and is on an upward curve. Haggas must also have thanked his lucky stars when someone of Saffie Osborne’s ability was drawn on his horse and her record at Ascot this season is excellent. She sits fifth behind Ryan Moore, Billy Loughnane, Oisin Murphy and Kaiya Fraser in this year’s table.
And the last race is the Mile, the round mile, not the straight. I’m siding with another Haggas runner here in the shape of Bullet Point, but not with the same conviction as my previous selection. The horse has the uber experienced and talented Christophe Lemaire in the saddle, and he has cheekpieces on the first time in a bid to win his first race since York’s Sky Bet Ebor festival a year ago. He was runner-up in last season’s Royal Hunt Cup and has only had a couple of outings since a run in Australia in November. Haggas has four runners across the card, and all hold strong chances.
It all seems quite simple at this stage, doesn’t it? I find that it rarely works out like that, but we should have some good fun in the process. I’ll see you on Sky Sports Racing at 1pm with two former Shergar Cup participants (one tells me that he “nearly” won the Silver Saddle!).
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