THE DUBAI DUTY FREE SHERGAR CUP

Jockeys Josephne Gordon, Hollie Doyle & Hayley Turner jubilant after winning the Shergar Cup

The teams:
Team Europe: Captain Andrasch Starke, Gerald Mosse and Scandinavian jockey Per-Anders Graberg.
Rest of the World: Captain Yutaka Take, Joao Moreira and Corey Brown
Girls: Captain Josephine Gordon, Hayley Turner and Hollie Doyle
Great Britain and Ireland: Captain Fran Berry, the winner of last year’s Alistair Haggis Silver Saddle, with Shergar Cup debut jockeys Pat Cosgrave and Adam Kirby.

DUBAI DUTY FREE SHERGAR CUP DASH
Hollie Doyle thrust The Girls’ team into an early lead by winning the first race of the day, the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Dash, on the Clive Cox-trained Tis Marvellous. The 6/1 shot beat Gracious John (Fran Berry) by a length and a quarter. Hollie accrued 15 points for The Girls, while Hayley Turner’s third place aboard Line Of Reason gave the team a further seven points, meaning they were in the lead with 22 points going into the second race.

Hollie said: “I really enjoyed this meeting last year and just got touched off in this race, so it’s great to get a win on the board. I wasn’t getting beaten, like I did in this race year. This horse has got bags of ability – I can’t emphasise that enough – and it just wasn’t his day last time at Goodwood. He loves it here and has shown it today. It’s a massive deal to get picked to ride here, let alone ride a winner, and it was nice to be part of the team for definite today. So far, so good! If The Girls could win the competition, it would be fantastic.”

Winning trainer Clive Cox said: “We did expect a big run last week, to be fair, but I think it was the extreme temperature at Goodwood. We realised that you can take a horse to water but you can’t make them drink – he didn’t take on a lot of fluids and had a drip the day before with the temperatures being so hot. For some reason, he didn’t take on any fluids. He showed an awful lot as a two-year-old, breaking the course record in the Prix Robert Papin. I think five and a half furlongs is his perfect trip, and they have gone a million miles an hour over the stiff five here. He was fifth behind Caravaggio and Harry Angel in the Commonwealth Cup last year and is a high-class performer.”

12/1 shot Gracious John provided 10 points for Team Great Britain & Ireland following a second-placed finish under captain Fran Berry. Trained by David Evans, the five-year-old son of Baltic King finished a length and a quarter behind 6/1 winner Tis Marvellous, ridden by Hollie Doyle, part of The Girls team. Team Great Britain & Ireland picked up a further five points, 15 in total, following El Astronaute’s fourth-placed finish under Pat Cosgrave.

Joao Moreira of team ROW, on Watchable (6/1), said: “I loved my first ride in the 2018 Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup. My horse ran better than he has in his last couple of runs. I am very pleased to pick up three points for the team.” Team Europe did not score.

DUBAI DUTY FREE SHERGAR CUP STAYERS
Manchester United duo Paul Pogba & Luke Shaw dashed the hopes of Leicester City starting the 2018 Premier League season with a win, but the club’s owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha had reason to celebrate on as Scandinavian legend Pers-Anders Graberg partnered his five-year-old Cleonte (9/2) to victory in the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Stayers contest. Trained by Andrew Balding, the son of Sir Percy ran on strongly in the closing stages to score by three-quarters of a length in the two-mile event. Graberg, partnering his first winner in Britain, having previously had two rides on the All-Weather in 2006, was delighted to be in the winner’s enclosure and to pick up 15 points for Team Europe. Team Europe failed to pick up any points in the first race of the day, but along with Graberg’s success, Gerald Mosse finished second on 16/1 chance Stars Over The Sea, picking up 10 points and captain Andrasch Starke notching five points after his fourth-placed finish on 13/2 chance Soldier In Action. After the second race, Europe has moved into the lead on 30 points, one point ahead of The Girls on 29. Great Britain and Ireland are in third with 15 points, while the Rest Of The World has six points.
Gerald Mosse added ten points to the European team score with a second on the Ian Williams-trained Stars Over Sea. There was little pace in the early stages of the race, so Mosse let dual-purpose son of Sea The Stars, sent off a 16/1 chance, move to the head of affairs and the jockey allowed him bowl along in front until turning for home. The seven-year-old rallied when Cleonte (ridden by European team member Per-Anders Graberg) joined him in the straight, but in the end Mosse was denied the winning score by three-quarters of a length. It was a European team one-two.
Hayley Turner, rode Byron Flyer (5/1) into third place for the Girls’ team. Turner continued: “Usually we have [Canadian jockey] Emma-Jayne Wilson on our team. She’s the super-motivator and she plays this song in the weighing-room, and because she’s not coming this year she rang my phone and left this answer phone message saying, ‘right, you need to get all the girls round, Hayley – go on, go and get them’ – and played the song, doing this massive motivational chat to us down the phone from Canada. It worked!

DUBAI DUTY FREE CHALLENGE
The pair of Humble Hero under Corey Brown and Genetics ridden by Andrasch Starke went a distance clear of the rest of the field mid-race in the Dubai Duty Free Challenge over one mile and four furlongs. As they entered the home straight, Brown’s mount dropped away, but Genetics stayed on to win by an unchallenged 12 lengths. It was a first Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup win for Starke, who has previously ridden in the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup in 2009 and 2013. Genetics, a gambled-on 9/1 shot, is trained by Andrew Balding.
The Girls’ team captain Josephine Gordon’s second place aboard Twin Star meant that she got off the mark for the day in terms of points. 13/2 shot Twin Star finished second to Genetics by 12 lengths. Both horses are trained by Andrew Balding.
Hollie Doyle, part of The Girls team, was pleased with the run of 8/1 chance Maori Bob, who finished a creditable third to the well-backed and impressive 12-length winner Genetics.
Joao “Magic Man” Moreira picked up five points for the Rest Of The World team after finishing fourth aboard 3/1 favourite Koeman in the 12-furlong contest.

DUBAI DUTY FREE SHERGAR CUP MILE
Hayley Turner’s victory in the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Mile on the Stuart Williams-trained Via Serendipity takes her into the lead in the Alistair Haggis “Silver Saddle” for the most successful rider at the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup. Via Serendipity was sent off the 7/2 joint-favourite and won by half a length from Shady McCoy under a determined ride from Turner. This was the jockey’s sixth Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup win on her 12th appearance in the competition. Adam Kirby was magnanimous in defeat following 9/1 shot Shady McCoy’s second-placed finish, beaten a half-length by 7/2 joint-favourite. Australian jockey Corey Brown finished third aboard replacement runner Zwayyan (8/1), trained by Andrew Balding. Brown was making his Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup debut riding for the Rest of the World team. Andrasch Starke, was fourth-placed on Mythical Madness (14/1).

DUBAI DUTY FREE SHERGAR CUP CLASSIC
Joao “Magic Man” Moreira lived up to his billing with a thrilling ride aboard the well-supported 9/2 shot Berkshire Blue in the 12-furlong Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Classic.
Brazilian Moreira, widely recognised as one of the best jockeys in the world, produced the three-year-old son of Champs Ellysees to perfection in home straight, scoring by a head.
A jubilant Moreira, picking up 15 points for the Rest Of The World team, leaving him with 23 points overall, said: “It’s a pleasure to ride winners anywhere, but it’s special to win at Ascot.
“England is the land of The Queen and this event is so well organised – it has been a pleasure to be a part of this event. Ascot is such a beautiful track and so unique. For someone like myself, who basically came from nothing and to end up here is amazing. I thought that I had won because my horse had the momentum. Berkshire Blue was putting his head down but I knew that it was very tight. This horse helped me out so I am very proud of being his rider today.
Moreira revealed in June 2018 that he had withdrawn his application to ride in Hong Kong for the forthcoming season – he will instead be based in Japan. Discussing the move, Moreira commented: “I’m ambitious and I would consider coming over to England, but the right opportunity has not come for me. It is definitely something that I will consider. The opportunity to ride in Japan has arrived and I’m delighted to be going. I have a goal to be successful in Japan first and foremost and I’m happy where I am at the moment. I can only tell you my first step and that is Japan.
Pat Cosgrave’s second place in the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Classic was a welcome boost to the fortunes of the GB & IRE team. Gerard Mosse helped to keep the game alive for Europe collecting seven points for his team with a third place on board Bayshore Freeway (8/1), trained by Mark Johnston.

DUBAI DUTY FREE SHERGAR CUP SPRINT
One of the world’s best jockeys Joao Moreira, the former Hong Kong champion jockey, made it a 70.5/1 double on the 2018 Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup card – after his success on Berkshire Blue in the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Classic, he also won the finale, the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Sprint aboard Green Power, finishing a neck ahead of the Hayley Turner-ridden Roundhay Park (5/1). He was beaten by Turner for the Alistair Haggis Silver Saddle by just a point – he finished up on 38 with Turner on 39, but was awarded ride of the day on Green Power. “Things went his way, I couldn’t be more pleased with how it went, he has a fighting spirit,” said Moreira of the John Gallagher-trained three-year-old, sent off a 12/1 chance. It couldn’t be any better and I am extremely happy. My horse crossed the line a head in front, so I was quite confident we had won,” said the Magic Man. “At one stage, I thought he was done and fortunately he kind of found another gear in the last 50 metres. He gave me it all and we got there in a good fashion. I am not that young anymore – I am 35 – at the start of the challenge I had a little bit of nerves in my stomach, but, if I didn’t feel that, then I wouldn’t want to be in horseracing anymore! “

“It’s brilliant – I can’t really believe it,” said Hayley Turner. “It’s massive.” She was referring to meeting singer/songwriter Elliot Gleave, known as Example, who was playing alongside DJ Wire at Ascot after the conclusion of racing, but her words applied equally to her victory in the Alistair Haggis “Silver Saddle” competition for the leading rider at the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup. Turner’s second place on the Nigel Tinkler-trained Roundhay Park, a 5/1 chance in the concluding Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Sprint gave her 10 points, making a total of 39 for the day. This meant she held off Joao Moreira, who won the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Sprint aboard Green Power, by just one point.

She helped The Girls to overall Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup victory with 76 points; second were Europe with 70. Rest of the World took third place with 48 points, and GB & IRE trailed in fourth with 46 points. Turner said: “I’ve been coming to the Shergar Cup for 12 years now and it is a very special day. The progression of female jockeys is something that is really being pushed and discussed, and this is a fine example of how well girls can do in racing. Hayley Turner won the Alistair Haggis Silver Saddle with 39 points as The Girls were crowned the 2018 Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup champions with 76 points.