3 minute read
Strong chances for Fallon and Michel as they make competition debuts.
The final fields and jockey bookings have been confirmed for the 20th running of the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup.
A maximum of 10 runners will contest each of the six races at Ascot on Saturday, with riders involved competing for four teams – Great Britain, Ireland, Rest of the World and the Ladies team.
Proceedings get under way with the five-furlong Shergar Cup Dash, for which the Clive Cox-trained Tis Marvellous heads the ante-post betting with Danish-born rider Kevin Stott on board.
His rivals include the Stuart Williams-trained Tone The Barone , who will be ridden by the most successful jockey in the history of the Shergar Cup in Hayley Turner.
Ian Williams has declared four runners for the Shergar Cup Stayers, although Royal Ascot winner Reshoun is first reserve.
The Alvechurch handler looks set to to saddle Indianapolis and East Asia for the Rest of the World team, with Stott and Swaziland-born Sean Levey their respective riders, as well Hasanabad – who will be partnered by rising star David Egan for Ireland.
The two-mile contest also provides leading French female rider Mickaëlle Michel with one of her strongest riders of the afternoon when she partners the hat-trick seeking Call My Bluff for trainer Dominic Ffrench Davis.
Britain's Joe Fanning will be hoping to get the best out of Andrew Balding's Group One Power , who is a leading hope for the Shergar Cup Challenge over a mile and a half.
His team-mate and captain, Derby-winning jockey Adam Kirby, also has a good ride in C'Est No Mour.
The betting for the Shergar Cup Mile is headed by top-weight Dance Fever, who will be partnered by veteran Irish rider Tadhg O'Shea.
Shergar Cup debutant Cieren Fallon, whose father Kieren won the Alistair Haggis Silver Saddle as the event's leading rider in 2003 and was on the winning team in 2001 and 2002, has a strong chance aboard Dashing Roger.
The penultimate race of the afternoon is the Shergar Cup Classic.
Turner rides market leader Barn Owl for Roger Charlton, while Kirby is on board the consistent Skycutter from Phil Kirby's yard. He has finished second three times this year, without winning.
The action concludes with the Shergar Cup Sprint, and Scottish rider Nicola Currie appears to have drawn well after being booked to partner Cox-trained favourite Royal Scimitar.
Kirby will partner Ed Walker's recent Doncaster scorer Popmaster .
