Shergar Cup

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2009 Shergar Cup

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The Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup - Facts & Figures
05/08/10

The Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup is the world’s premier international jockeys’ team competition. Three world-class riders will represent each of Great Britain (GBR), Ireland (IRE), Europe (EUR) and the Rest of the World (ROW).

The jockeys competing in the four team Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup will wear team colours for the first time at this year’s renewal on Saturday, 7th August.

• The six races are limited to 10 runners with either two or three horses racing for each team (this will balance itself out over the course of the afternoon), and points are awarded on a 15, 10, 7, 5, 3 basis to the first five horses home (non runners score 4 points). Subject to full fields, each jockey has five rides and the team with the highest total after the sixth race lifts the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup.

• All six races are handicaps and all will be run with identical prize money - £30,000 per race.

• Owners have a fantastic opportunity on Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Day - there are no entry fees for the races, there is prize money down to last place (with reserves that miss out on a run paid £500 travel money) and there is complimentary hospitality throughout the day.

• Dubai Duty Free has been associated with the Shergar Cup since its inception, initially as team sponsor of the Rest of the World team and as a race sponsor. In 2006, the company became title sponsor of the whole event for the first time.

• Captain for the GBR Team is Hayley Turner, riding in her fourth Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup and the most successful female rider Britain has ever produced. She will be joined by Ascot-born Jim Crowley, who is enjoying a fantastic season as stable jockey to Ralph Beckett and Alan Munro, who will forever be associated with the great Generous, winner of the Derby and King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes in 1991.

• Captain for the IRE Team is Richard Hughes, fresh from a record-breaking nine winners at Glorious Goodwood last week and twice winner of the Silver Saddle at the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup. Hughes will ride alongside Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup debutants Pat Smullen, Ireland’s five-time champion jockey and successful in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot this season aboard Rite Of Passage, and Fran Berry, who was elevated to number one jockey to John Oxx and the Aga Khan in Ireland following the retirement of Mick Kinane. Smullen and Berry are currently the top two riders in this season’s Irish jockeys’ championship.

• Captain for the EUR Team is Olivier Peslier, who will be making a speedy return to Ascot following his imperious victory aboard Harbinger in the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes on July 24. He will be joined by Italian Umberto Rispoli, the 2009 champion jockey who smashed Frankie Dettori’s father’s long-standing record for most in winners in an Italian season, and French-based Belgian-born superstar Christophe Soumillon.

• Captain for the ROW Team is Anton Marcus. The South African champion captured the US$5 million Dubai Duty Free aboard Jay Peg in 2008. His teammates are Luke Nolen from Australia, recently crowned champion in Victoria, and Yasunari Iwata from Japan who is the only Japanese jockey to have won the Emirates Melbourne Cup.

• The Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup is being run for the 10th time at Ascot. The first running took place in 2000 when it was staged as an owners’ competition. It became a jockeys’ competition in 2001 and has gone from strength to strength ever since, attracting bumper crowds in each of the last six years it has been run (2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 – it was not staged in 2005 when the racecourse was being redeveloped).

• The jockeys competing in the four-team Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup will wear full team colours for the first time at this year’s renewal on Saturday, August 7. This is a one-year trial agreed with the Racehorse Owners Association. Please see page 4 for further information.

• The three jockeys riding for the Great Britain team will wear red and white colours, the jockeys representing Ireland will wear green and white, the jockeys riding for Europe will wear blue and white and the Rest of the World team will wear black and white. Distinguishing caps and sleeves (checks, hoops and stars) will allow commentators, racegoers and TV viewers to differentiate between the jockeys riding within each team. Please see page 4 for further information.

• Back by popular demand, a two-hour live 1980s concert will take place in the old paddock after racing. The line-up consists of Boy George, Johnny Hates Jazz, Cutting Crew, The Christians, Captain Sensible, Belinda Carlisle and Midge Ure.

DUBAI DUTY FREE SHERGAR CUP DAY ORDER OF RUNNING

Saturday, August 7, 2010

TIME RACE AGE PRIZE MONEY DISTANCE

2.10 pm The Barclays Shergar Cup Dash
(Class 2) (Handicap) (86-105) 3+ £30,000 Five furlongs

2.45 pm The Titanic Quarter Shergar Cup Classic
(Class 2) (Handicap) (76-95) 3 £30,000 One mile & four furlongs

3.20 pm The Les Ambassadeurs Club Shergar Cup Mile
(Class 2) (Handicap) (81-100) 4+ £30,000 One mile

3.55 pm The St Hallett Shergar Cup Stayers
(Class 2) (Handicap) (81-100) 4+ £30,000 Two miles

4.30 pm The Michael Page International Shergar Cup Challenge
(Class 2) (Handicap) (76-95) 4+ £30,000 One mile & four furlongs

5.05 pm The Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Sprint
(Class 2) (Handicap) (81-100) 4+ £30,000 Six furlongs

2001 FINAL TEAM SCORES
DUBAI DUTY FREE REST OF THE WORLD TEAM 125
WEATHERBYS GREAT BRITAIN & IRELAND TEAM 115

REST OF THE WORLD TEAM

Anton Marcus (SAF) – Captain

South African jockey Anton Marcus, born January 31, 1970, is the younger brother of Basil Marcus, a multiple champion jockey in Hong Kong and now a trainer in Singapore. But despite that connection, Anton did not grow up around horses. Indeed, Basil had left home by the time Anton was born and it was an article in the newspaper about the South African Jockey Academy that sparked his interest. He decided, almost on the spur of the moment, to try his luck and entered the academy at Summerveld in Natal in 1985. Upon leaving the academy in 1988, he continued his education with trainer Stanley Amos. After two years he moved on to the now Australian-based David Payne in Natal for 18 months, followed by a two-year spell with Tony Millard in Johannesburg. A few years freelancing were punctuated at age 26 by a short stint in Hong Kong. He then joined the powerful Geoff Woodruff stable before moving on to Charles Laird with whom he continues to have a successful association. His first winner came aboard Lancaster Gardens on January 25, 1986, and he has gone on to become one of South Africa’s leading riders over the past 20 years, being crowned champion jockey on three occasions – 1999/2000, 2007/2008 and 2009/2010. During his career in South Africa, he has won many of the top races, but his biggest claim to fame is that he has won the Grade One Durban July, South Africa’s most prestigious handicap, on no fewer than four occasions, a record in modern times. Only Harold ‘Tiger’ Wright who won the race four times in the 1940s and 1950s can match his achievement. Marcus’ successes came in 1993 (Dancing Duel), 2000 (El Picha), 2005 (Dunford) and 2007 (Hunting Tower). He also partnered the South African champion filly Empress Club and the top-class sprinter/miler Jet Master. Our Giant gave him Grade One victories in the 2008 H F Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes and the 2009 Mercury Sprint, while Smart Banker captured the 2009 Champions Challenge under Marcus. He also rode high-class Hong Kong sprinter Firebolt to a Group Two success in the Sha Tin Vase Handicap in 2002. But it was Marcus’ win on Jay Peg in the US$5 million Dubai Duty Free on Dubai World Cup night in March, 2008, that propelled him in to the global limelight, the race in Dubai being worth some twelve times more in value than the Durban July. He previously partnered Jay Peg to victory in the 2007 Cape Guineas and the pair also enjoyed big-race success in 2008 when they beat off another international field to capture the Singapore Airlines International Cup at Kranji. Marcus has never ridden in Britain but he did attend a race meeting at Ascot prior to the redevelopment and “can’t wait” to compete at the racecourse in the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup.

Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup wins (0): Debut in 2010

Luke Nolen (AUS)

Born on March 12, 1980, Luke Nolen is the son of trainer and former jockey Vincent Nolen (more commonly known as Tal) whose short riding career ended after he took a couple of falls. Nolen grew up surrounded by horses on his parent’s farm in Benalla, north east Victoria. Apprenticed to Mansfield-based trainer Gerald Egan for three years, he moved on to Brian Mayfield-Smith’s stable but then struggled to get rides as he lost focus for a period and racing dropped down his priority list. His fortunes changed after a chance phone call from leading trainer Peter Moody in 2003, who mistakenly booked Nolen for two winning rides at Sale thinking that he was actually recruiting Luke’s brother Shaun. The pair soon struck up a formidable partnership, which has brought big-race successes, including with the filly Headway, winner of the Group One Coolmore Stud Stakes in October, 2009. Nolen has ridden six Group One winners this season, all for Moody. As well as Headway, the pair have been on the mark with Typhoon Tracy in the Myer Classic, Futurity Stakes and C. F. Orr Stakes, and Wanted in the Newmarket Handicap. Nolen has a total of 11 Group One wins in his career, with his biggest victory to date came astride El Segundo in the 2007 Cox Plate for trainer Colin Little. He also landed the 2006 Caulfield Guineas for Bart Cummings on Wonderful World. Nolen recently won his first Victoria Jockey Premiership. He suffered an horrific fall from Antidotes at Doomben racecourse on May 17, 2008, that left him unconscious with a broken palate, eye socket, cheekbone, nose and jaw, as well as damage to a knee. Remarkably he returned to race-riding barely three months later on August 20, rebuffing talks of retirement by saying: “I don’t know anything else. I had to get back on.” Nolen married Alicia in early 2008 and they have a young son, Dane. His only previous venture outside of Australia came when he rode in the New Zealand Derby. In his spare time, Nolen enjoys snowboarding and also owns a speed boat, which enables him to indulge in water skiing and wakeboarding.

Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup wins (0): Debut in 2010

Yasunari Iwata (JPN)

Born on March 12, 1974, in Himeji in the Hyogo prefecture of Southern Japan, Yasunari Iwata made his racecourse debut at the Sonoda racecourse in 1991. He soon gained a reputation as one of the up and coming jockeys in the National Association of Racing (NAR) circuit and won the Hyogo Triple Crown in 1996. He topped the jockey standings in Hyogo for the first time in 2000 and went on to win the local championship in both 2002 and 2004. After consistently recording more than 200 winners a season, Iwata notched his 3,000th career success in December, 2005. While still affiliated to the NAR, Iwata also rode in some of the major races of the rival Japanese Racing Association (JRA), and he enjoyed his first Pattern success when Believe triumphed in the Grade Two Centaur Stakes at Hanshin in September, 2002. He became the first NAR jockey to win a JRA Classic race on October 24, 2004, as Delta Blues prevailed in the Kikuka Sho (Japanese St Leger) at Kyoto. Iwata joined the JRA full-time in 2006 and had a superb first campaign on Japan’s premier racing circuit, recording 126 wins, with three Graded successes. He shot to international prominence in November, 2006, as he linked up with Delta Blues once more for a thrilling victory in the Melbourne Cup in Flemington - with the pair becoming the first Japanese horse and jockey to win Australia’s greatest race. Further big-race success followed in Japan in 2007, as he partnered Admire Moon to Grade One success in both the Takarazuka Kinen and the Japan Cup and registered 145 wins in the season, second only to the legendary Yutake Take. Iwata’s star continued to rise in 2008 as he recorded 13 grade-race wins including four Grade One successes, headed by the victories of Admire Moon in the Tenno Sho Spring and superstar mare Vodka in the Yasuda Kinen. A fabulous 2008 campaign saw Iwata win a total of 131 races and his earnings of 3,160,046,000 yen earned him the JRA Award for Best Jockey (money earned), ending the seven-year reign of Yutaka Take. He enjoyed another profitable season in 2009, registering 109 wins to take third in the championship behind Hiroyuki Uchida and Yutake Take and enjoying Grade One success in the Satsuki Sho (the Japanese 2000 Guineas) with Unrivaled and in the Japan Dirt Derby on Testa Malta. As of July 25, Iwata was second in the JRA standings for the current season with 61 wins, with the highlight so far being a second successive victory in the Satsuki Sho, this time on Victoir Pisa. Iwata is also no stranger to jockeys’ team events, having taken part in Japan’s World Super Jockeys Series on five occasions (winning the competition in 2005) as well as the Hong Kong Challenge in 2008.

Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup wins (0): Debut in 2010

EUROPE TEAM

Olivier Peslier (FRA) - Captain

Born at Cossé-le-Vivien on January 12, 1971, the son of a stonemason, Peslier sprang to prominence in 1996 when winning his first Cravache d’Or (France’s jockeys’ title) with 163 winners, ending the four-year reign of Thierry Jarnet. He took the title thrice more, in 1997 with 154 successes, 1999 (147 wins) and 2000 (162 wins). He won three consecutive Prix de l’Arc de Triomphes on Sagamix (1998), Peintre Celebre (1997) and Helissio (1996). Peslier is one of the world’s leading jockeys and has tasted top-flight success across the globe. He has an excellent record in Britain - his Group One haul this side of the Channel includes the Derby (1998 High-Rise), 2,000 Guineas (2007 Cockney Rebel), King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2010 Harbinger), Prince Of Wales’s Stakes (2006 Ouija Board, 2009 Vision D’Etat), Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (1997 Air Express and 1998 Desert Prince), Ascot Gold Cup (2005 Westerner), King’s Stand Stakes (1997 Don’t Worry Me, 2008 Equiano), Coronation Stakes (1996 Shake The Yoke, 2001 Banks Hill) and Dewhurst Stakes (1997 Xaar). He also won the Irish 2,000 Guineas in 1998 on Desert Prince, a year later on Saffron Walden and in 2007 on Cockney Rebel. Peslier has also won the Irish Derby (1995 Winged Love) and French equivalent (1997 Peintre Celebre). As well as the aforementioned champions, Peslier is famed for his associations with the great French mare Goldikova, whom he has ridden in all of her races, including two Breeders’ Cup Mile victories (2008 & 2009), and Japanese champion Zenno Rob Roy. In 2004 he rode the latter to clinch the coveted big-race trio of the Tenno Sho, Japan Cup and Arima Kinen. Peslier has an outstanding record in Japan and Hong Kong, where he often rides during the winter months, winning numerous Group One contests over the past decade. He has partnered Group One winners in each of the major northern hemisphere racing nations with further US victories including the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (2001 Banks Hill) and the Man O’ War Stakes (2007 Doctor Dino).
Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup wins (0): Debut in 2010

Christophe Soumillon (BEL)

One of the world’s leading jockeys, the Belgian-born but French-based Christophe Soumillon made a sensational start to his career. Born in Brussels on June 4, 1981, the son of a retired jump jockey turned trainer was initially apprenticed to Cedric Boutin while attending the Moulin a Vent school in Chantilly, where many other French riders have learned their trade. He rode his first winner on November 7, 1997, aboard 75/1 shot Bruni, trained by Boutin. Champion apprentice in 1999, Soumillon was signed up as apprentice to the all-conquering Andre Fabre stable and Thierry Jarnet’s departure at the same time meant that he was effectively second jockey at the yard. He has been champion jockey in France on three occasions (2003, 2005 & 2006), his best total being 226 winners in 2006. He rode five winners in a day in April, 2000, and again in September, 2006, with his haul including the Prix Vermeille, Prix Foy and Prix Niel. He won his first French Derby in 2001 on the Carlos Lerner-trained Anabaa Blue and, following Gerald Mosse’s departure to Hong Kong, Soumillon took over as retained jockey to the Aga Khan in France in October, 2001. As a result of that association, Soumillon rode the great unbeaten Zarkava in each of her seven races, winning five Group One contests, including the Prix de Diane and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in 2008. He has recorded three wins in the French 2,000 Guineas (2001 Vahorimix, 2003 Clodovil, 2009 Silver Frost), three successes in the French 1,000 Guineas (2003 Musical Chimes, 2007 Darjina, 2008 Zarkva), three French Derbys (2001 Anabaa Blue, 2003 Dalakhani, 2006 Darsi), two Prix de l’Arc de Triomphes (2003 Dalakhani, 2008 Zarkava), a Breeders’ Cup Turf (2005 Shirocco) a King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2006 Hurricane Run), as well as a whole strong of other major prizes. Soumillon is no stranger to controversy and had fracas in a Hong Kong bar with trainer John Moore’s son in December, 2008. He also had a widely publicised spat with trainer Andre Fabre and it was announced in August, 2009, that his retainer with the Aga Khan was to end, a move that shocked the jockey. In June, 2010, he made his debut over hurdles and four days later at Auteuil, he enjoyed a first success in that sphere when racing to a wide-margin victory in the French Champion Hurdle atop Mandali. Soumillon enjoys paintballing, go-karting and riding his Welsh pony in the Chantilly forests with his two Jack Russells as an escape from racing.

Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup wins (0): Debut in 2010

Umberto Rispoli (ITY)

The son of a jockey, Umberto Rispoli was born on August 31, 1988 in San Severino Marche in the Marche region of central Italy. He started riding out at age 10 and moved to Rome when he was just 13 to gain experience at the stable of Fabrizio and Luigi Camici. After a spell furthering his education with trainer Armando Maggi, Rispoli graduated from the apprentices’ school at Pisa in 2004, and linked up with the powerful stable of the Botti brothers, Alduino and Giuseppe, where he is first jockey for Alduino’s son Stefano Botti, who took over the yard in May, 2009, after the departure of the older duo to France. Rispoli had his first public ride when coming second on Polar Eagle at Varese on February 5, 2005 and only had to wait 14 days to enjoy his first success as Peace Maker won at the same course. In his first season, Rispoli was leading apprentice with 82 winners to his name and he went on to notch 134 victories in 2006, a total that saw him take fourth in the jockeys’ championship. In November, 2009, Rispoli broke Gianfranco Dettori’s 27-year-old Italian record of 229 winners in a season, pushing the new mark to 245 at the end of the campaign. He enjoyed a first Group race success on Armando Renzoni-trained Lui Rei, who won the Premio Primo Passi at Milan’s San Siro racecourse on June 22, 2008. He also rode Permesso to finish second in that year’s Italian Derby and filled the same spot in the Classic 12 months later on Turati. Rispoli is no stranger to British racing having enjoyed a brief spell in the UK in the winter of 2007/08, working for Alduino Botti’s son Marco at Newmarket and enjoyed a first British success when Satyricon landed a Kempton Park claimer on January 18, 2008. He has also been successful in Germany and represented his country in the “Young Stars Championship” at the international jockey series in Mauritius in December, 2008.
Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup wins (0): Debut in 2010

GREAT BRITAIN TEAM

Hayley Turner - Captain

Hayley Turner, the joint champion UK apprentice jockey in 2005, is generally acknowledged as the most successful female rider to emerge in the 400 year history of the Sport of Kings in this country. Born on January 3, 1983, in Nottingham, Turner was taught to ride by her mother, a riding instructor. She started riding out for trainer Mark Polglase, who supplied her first winner, Generate, at Pontefract on June 4, 2000. She also attended the Northern Racing College, and then was apprenticed to Michael Bell in Newmarket. Turner became the first woman to be crowned champion apprentice when partnering 44 winners during the 2005 Flat (turf) season sharing the title with Saleem Golam. She also became only the fourth woman in Britain to ride out her claim, following Alex Greaves, Emma O'Gorman and Lisa Jones. She has ridden in Dubai over the winter months, including for Godolphin. Her success during the 2005 season led to Turner being awarded a Lester for apprentice jockey of the year the first woman ever to land the award. Turner competed in the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup in 2006 and nearly won the Les Ambassadeurs Club Shergar Cup Mile when going down by a short head on Tucker. She has ridden over 400 winners. She enjoyed her first victory in the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup in 2007 when she won the Barclays Shergar Cup Juvenile with 33/1 chance Relative Order and finished second behind Australian Hugh Bowman in the Silver Saddle standings. Turner was also on the mark in 2008 when she captained the GB team for the first time, scoring aboard Gee Dee Nen in the St Hallett Shergar Cup Stayers. That same year, she became the first female jockey to partner 100 winners in a calendar year in Britain. Turner was forced to miss four months of the 2009 Flat season after an incident on the Newmarket gallops that March, when catapulted from the horse she was riding and knocked unconscious. Turner’s injuries - bruising to the brain - were originally considered serious enough that her licence was suspended for a year. However, following an appeal hearing at the BHA in July, she was declared fit to resume race riding and was back in action at Ascot the following day. She captained the GBR team for a second time at the 2009 Shergar Cup, winning the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Sprint aboard Noverre To Go, and fills the same role for a third time in 2010. She enjoyed one of her biggest moments in the saddle when winning the Group Two Lancashire Oaks on Barshiba at Haydock Park on July 3.

Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup wins (3): 2007 Relative Order; 2008 Gee Dee Nen; 2009 Noverre To Go.

Jim Crowley

Born on July 14, 1978, Jim Crowley hails from Ascot, where his parents trained point-to-pointers and reared him on a diet of hunting and showjumping. His first two jobs were with trainers John White and Ron Hodges and although he first made an impression as an amateur on the Flat, he soon switched his attention to jumping, attached to Sue Smith’s West Yorkshire stable. He rode around 300 winners over obstacles, including the 2005 Lanzarote Hurdle on Crossbow Creek, before deciding to concentrate solely on the Flat. Based at Pulborough, Crowley rode principally for his sister-in-law Amanda Perrett before being signed up as stable jockey to Ralph Beckett last season. His biggest wins on the level include Bulwark in the 2008 Chester Cup, Lord Shanakill in the 2009 Group One Prix Jean Prat at Chantilly and Illustrious Blue in this season’s Group Two Goodwood Cup. He is married to Amanda Perrett’s sister Lucinda.

Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup wins (0): Debut in 2010

Alan Munro

Born on January 14, 1967, Alan Munro grew up in Hertfordshire and - after seeing a piece about Steve Cauthen on John Craven’s Newsround - decided he wanted to be a jockey and left school aged 16. He rode his first winner for trainer Barry Hills on Sentimental Roses at Yarmouth in August, 1985, and joined Mel Brittain’s North Yorkshire stable the following year while spending winters riding in America. He moved on to ride for Bill O’Gorman, winning the 1990 Coventry Stakes on Macs Imp and was appointed retained rider to owner Prince Fahd Salman in the spring of 1991. A superb first season including three top-class victories on the Paul Cole-trained Generous, who triumphed in the Epsom Derby before going on to annex the Irish equivalent and the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot. In the mid 1990s he headed to the Far East, riding in Japan and Hong Kong before in 2000 deciding he wanted to take a break from horses. He took up Shoringi-ryu Karate and is now a black belt in the martial art but decided it was time for a return to racing, explaining “No-one calls and you lose your identity - you have to readjust to being just a small person in the world and it's really hard.'' He returned to Britain in 2005 and, riding mainly for Rod Millman, had 60 successes including victories in the Northumberland Plate, totesport Ebor and totesport Cesarewitch on Sergeant Cecil. He also rode for Jeremy Noseda and enjoyed significant success on Araafa, who took the Irish 2,000 Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes in 2006. Unfortunately, a spell on the sidelines followed and Munro was out of action for 18 months after suffering a blackout induced by low blood pressure on a flight to Deauville in August, 2006. Having received the all-clear, he returned to action in early 2008, riding his first winner at Mont de Marsan in France in February and making a making a successful return to England four days later when partnering General Blucher to success at Lingfield. A productive 2008 campaign also included an eighth Royal Ascot win on Langs Lash in the Queen Mary Stakes, a brace of wins at Glorious Goodwood courtesy of Gravitation and Indian Days, as well as a valuable York handicap success on Brave Prospector. Alan enjoyed a notable double in Turkey last season as he partnered the Mick Channon-trained Eva’s Request to victory in the Istanbul Cup at Veliefendi and scored for the same trainer in the prestigious Bosphorus Cup the following day aboard Halicarnassus. He also enjoyed further international success on board Eva’s Request in the Group One Premio Lydia Tesio in Italy.
Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup wins (0):

IRELAND TEAM

Richard Hughes - Captain

Richard Hughes was born in Ireland on January 11, 1973, and served his apprenticeship with his father Dessie, a former top-class National Hunt rider who trains in Co Kildare and won the 2004 and 2005 Champion Hurdles at Cheltenham with Hardy Eustace. Richard had his first ride at Naas on March 19, 1988, when finishing 10th of 15 and enjoyed his first success on Viking Melody at Roscommon that August. He came over to Britain in 1994. He was appointed as Prince Khalid Abdulla’s retained jockey in 2001 but that association came to an end at the end of 2007. He rides regularly for Richard Hannon, to whose daughter Lizzie he is married. The 5ft 9in Hughes has, like his father, also ridden winners over jumps but concentrates on the Flat. His biggest successes include the 2004 French 2,000 Guineas on American Post, the 2003 French Oaks on Nebraska Tornado, the 1996 Italian Derby on Bahamian Knight, the 1996 Group One Premio Vittorio di Capua on Mistle Cat, the 2001 Group One Prix d’Ispahan on Observatory and the 2002 Group One French 1,000 Guineas on Zenda. Hughes had a long-awaited first British Group One success when Oasis Dream landed the 2003 Darley July Cup and he went on to land the Group One Nunthorpe Stakes on the same horse. Indian Ink gave him a Group One success at Royal Ascot when taking the 2007 Coronation Stakes. He has enjoyed a stellar 2010 so far, winning three Group Ones on Canford Cliffs - the St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot, the Irish 2,000 Guineas and the Sussex Stakes at Glorious Goodwood. He has also scored at the highest level this season in the Prix Jean Prat on Dick Turpin and in the totesport.com Lockinge Stakes on Paco Boy. He won the Silver Saddle for being the leading jockey at the Shergar Cup in both 2002 and 2009.

Previous Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup wins (7): 2009 Polly’s Mark, We’ll Come, Press The Button; 2002 Bouncing Bowdler, Goldeva, King’s Welcome; 2001 Thundering Surf

Pat Smullen

Born at Rhodes in County Offaly on May 22, 1977, Pat Smullen - whose father worked on a farm - became involved in horses at the age of 11 when accompanying his brother Sean to Joanna Morgan’s stud and sales yard - he went on to show jump and event. He then spent a four-year apprenticeship with local trainer Tommy Lacy, enjoying a first success aboard Vicosa in an apprentices’ handicap at the Dundalk evening meeting on June 11, 1993. It was Lacy who suggested to Smullen that he ride for trainer Erwan Charpy in Dubai during the winter of 1997/98 and he has since become one of the leading riders in the Middle East through the winter months. Smullen spent two years with Tommy Stack and had a first Group One win when the Stack-trained Tarascon won the 1997 Moyglare Stud Stakes. He became stable jockey to Dermot Weld in 1999 following Mick Kinane’s departure to Aidan O’Brien’s stable. Smullen, who is married to the former leading Irish trainer (and Aidan O’Brien’s sister-in-law) Frances Crowley, was Ireland’s champion jockey in 2000 (80 wins), 2001 (81 wins), 2005 (67 wins), 2007 (94 wins) and 2008 (72 wins). His major wins include the 2004 Irish Derby and 2005 Tattersalls Gold Cup on Grey Swallow, 2003 2,000 Guineas on Refuse To Bend, the Irish St Leger from 2001-2004 on Vinnie Roe, 2002 Matron Stakes on Dress To Thrill, Irish 1,000 Guineas on Nightime in 2006 and again in 2010 aboard Bethrah, the 2007 Prix de l’Abbaye on Benbaun, the 2009 Tattersalls Gold Cup on Casual Conquest, the 2010 Pretty Polly Stakes on Chinese White and the 2010 Ascot Gold Cup on Rite Of Passage. In 2008 he landed a first Breeders’ Cup success in the Breeders’ Cup Marathon aboard Muhannak, while Dress To Thrill also gave him Stateside victory in the 2002 Matriarch Stakes.

Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup wins (0): Debut in 2010

Fran Berry

Francis Martin Berry was born on January 2, 1981, and was bred to be a jockey. His father Frank was a Classic-winning apprentice who was Irish champion jump rider 10 times and - after a spell training - is now racing manager to owner J P McManus. Fran Berry, whose brother Alan is a successful National Hunt amateur, originally made his name as a jump jockey, winning the 1999 Coral Cup at the Cheltenham Festival on Khayrawani. Despite being 5 foot 8 inches tall, he is able to ride off 8st 8lb and now concentrates on the Flat. He served as second rider behind Mick Kinane at John Oxx's powerful Curragh stable from 2002 until the end of 2009 when Kinane retired and Berry was promoted to the number one spot. He was five clear in the Irish jockeys' championship in August, 2005, when suffering a bad fall at the Curragh resulting in a fractured vertebra and displaced sternum. He still finished second to Pat Smullen in the 2005 championship and was fourth in 2006 with 57 successes, third in 2007 with 80 wins, runner-up with 85 wins in 2008, just five adrift of Pat Smullen, and third in 2009 with 73 wins. He has had one Royal Ascot success, landing the 2005 Ascot Stakes on the Tony Martin-trained Leg Spinner, while another major win in Britain came when Duff landed the 2009 Park Stakes at Doncaster.

Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup wins (0): Debut in 2010

Admission prices are as follows:

Premier Admission SOLD OUT
General Admission £25

Free admission for accompanied children aged 16 and under.

Latest admission is 4.45pm.

To purchase tickets, visit www.ascot.co.uk or call Ascot’s booking line on 0870 727 1234.