Shergar Cup: Ladies first as Currie scoops Silver Saddle

Tis Marvellous got the Rest of the World team and Danish jockey Kevin Stott off to a flying start with a narrow victory in the opening race of the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup at Ascot.

The Clive Cox-trained gelding was a 9-2 joint-favourite to record a second win in the five-furlong Shergar Cup Dash, having struck gold for Hollie Doyle and the Ladies Team in 2018.

After tracking the pace-setting King Of Stars for much of the race on the far side of the track, Tis Marvellous moved powerfully to the lead inside the final two furlongs and briefly looked set to score decisively.

However, both 6-1 shot Desert Safari and the other joint-favourite Magical Spirit flashed home in the group that raced nearer the stands side, and there was little to choose between the trio passing the post.

After a brief wait, the judge confirmed Tis Marvellous had held on by a short head from Desert Safari, with Magical Spirit the same distance further away in third.

Stott said: “I thought I would try to get a nice lead and see if he (King Of Stars) could take me there, and he took me the furthest. I sat on him as long as possible. He’s a gentleman of a horse who made my job easy on that nice, soft ground.”

Clive Cox said: “I was just saying, the adage of horses for courses, Tis Marvellous really does hammer that home. But he’s been great from the get-go - he’s a course record holder of the Prix Robert Papin. He loves his Wokinghams and races like this.

“He is just amazing for a seven-year-old; I’m so proud of the way he is. He gives me a lot of pride. He’s so genuine and able – he must be one of the best horses in the world to own.

“I kind of stand on the line here all the time and I thought he was more than a short-head in front, but when I saw the slow-mo I was very worried.

“We’ve been lucky at this meeting, many times. It’s a fun day, and as long as the owners are behind and enjoy it, that’s what it is all about. It’s good prize-money – what’s not to like?”

James Doyle said of the runner-up: “It was a stupid race really the way they split with only 10 runners, but Desert Safari ran well.”

Adam Kirby said: “I am really pleased with Magical Spirit. He did nothing wrong. He loves the track and the ground. If it was a bit softer, he would have won.”

Joe Fanning said: “Aplomb ran a good race and had every chance two furlongs down.”

Team standings: Rest Of World (ROW) 18. Great Britain (GB) 17. Ireland (IRE) 5. LADIES 0

The Ladies bounced back from a quiet start when landing a 1-2 in the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Stayers.

Nicola Currie on Just Hubert (11/1) and Mickaelle Michel aboard Call My Bluff (7/1) dictated at the head of affairs for most of the marathon two-mile contest. The duo fought out a titanic battle in the straight, with Currie just getting her mount home by a short-head from her French-based teammate.

James Doyle for Great Britain tried to run down the front two aboard 3/1 favourite Uber Cool but could only get within a length and a half at the line. Teammate Cieren Fallon took fourth with Island Brave, which took Great Britain to the top of the standings after two races with 29 points. The Ladies followed in second with 25 points, and the Rest of the World third on 21 points.

Currie said: “Absolutely fantastic. It’s nice to be part of the team and it’s great to get a winner.

“It was a great race. I had a very genuine horse there; I got things kind of easy in front. Just Hubert had his ears pricked, and he’s dug very deep when he’s had to. It was a long straight, put it that way!

“He probably would have run very well at Goodwood [refused to race]. It was just a case of getting him positive and getting him travelling. In the end, I’ve gone round there with his ears pricked in front and he's had a great time.

“I had it easy. I knew he would stay all day, so I wanted to get the ball rolling when I turned in and turn it into a test of stamina. The more you ask, the more he gives, so thankfully it paid off.”

Winning joint-trainer William Muir said: “This horse is a character. Chad rides him every day at home, so fair play to Chad - they are both characters, and they like to go to the same place every day. I could take him, like the jumpers, three times up Fisher’s Hill and he wouldn’t stop, but ask him to go the straight mile, no, not a chance, but that’s him.

“He’d die for you once he’s going - once he’s going he’s a good horse. And he gets further. He loves it once he’s in control, and it doesn’t matter how you ride him.

“We’ve always said that it’s a short run-in at Ascot and you can’t pass everything, so I said to Nicola – ‘let’s try something different. Jump and get amongst them when you go past the gateway as you come out, and once you’re past there, let him roll on. It doesn’t matter if you’re making it because he’ll love it’.

“He does his own thing every day and he loves it.”

Mickaelle Michel said of the second: “Call My Bluff gave his best. He was honest, but the winner never stopped in front. I'm very happy and I thought I was going to win at one point. Hopefully the next race I will win.”

James Doyle said: “Another good run from Uber Cool. He's had big gaps between his runs, but he did perfectly well there.”

Cieren Fallon said: “Island Brave was a bit slowly early and it's soft ground. He is a horse that prefers better ground, so he was knocked off his feet and got stuck in the mud a bit.

“He was a bit too far back, but we saved ground on the rail and then when we switched out and got a nice clear run, he stayed on well. I think on better ground he would have won.”

Team standings: GB 29. LADIES 25. ROW 21. IRE 5

Shergar Cup debutant David Egan got Ireland back into the mix with victory on the Terry Kent-trained Graphite in the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Challenge.

The 12-furlong contest had an open look to it prior to the off, and so it proved in the race. Nicola Currie – who won the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Stayers earlier on the card – hit the front aboard HMS President (9/2) for the Ladies team, only for Egan to run her down on the 18/1 outsider, ultimately going on to score by a head.

Restorer (28/1) took third for Andrea Atzeni and the Rest of the World, with teammate Sean Levey on Sam Cooke back in fourth.

The Ladies topped the overall standings after race three on 38 points, five points clear of the Rest of the World team. Great Britain slipped to third on 29 points, with Ireland on 20 points.

Currie led the race for the Alistair Haggis “Silver Saddle” Trophy at halfway, with a win and a second giving her 25 points.

Egan said: “We needed these points! We were at the bottom of the leaderboard, so hopefully we can come with a late surge. I grew up watching the Shergar Cup and it is such a big event, watching all the top jockeys around the world taking part, and to put my name on just one of the races means a lot to me.

“You can look strong, but you need a good horse underneath you. Terry Kent has done a great job with this horse, he’s an ex-Mr Fabre horse. He’d been running in Group races and slowly dropping down the handicap.

“It’s great for TJ and his team. He’s an up-and-coming trainer who was assistant to Roger Varian, who I've been apprentice to all through the years. It's great to repay back the faith with a good one like this for a young trainer.”

Egan added: “Looking up at the crowds there, it’s fantastic to see. Ascot, although it’s about great horses, it’s also about the great crowds, and at least we've got them back.”

Kent said: “This is a big day for my team. It’s lovely to come to Ascot – to have a horse good enough to come here. You learn very quickly in this game to appreciate the good days.

“I was assistant to Roger Varian for a few years, so it is even better that David Egan rode this horse today, because we both are disciples of Roger. I learnt a lot from Roger – he’s a lovely man and very good at what he does. I also learnt a lot from working at Godolphin and, in the early days, Michael Jarvis.

“Taking the plunge and starting training is a bit like riding over jumps – I’m not sure whether you have to be brave or stupid! I tend to be the latter. But I’m really pleased with what we’ve done, and with this fella, Graphite. For small money, we’re doing quite well. We’ve just moved yards, and we’ve got 15 horses in with a couple more to come in. We’re ambitious and we’ve got room for more horses, especially ones like Graphite!

“Graphite is a gent to deal with. He does everything you ask him. He’s a bit like myself in that he’s getting on in years, so he takes a bit of warming up. I do like to have him in the yard and I have to say thank you to Allan Mackay who told me to go and have a look at him when he was in the sales.”

Nicola Currie said: “I think I might have got back up again on HMS President. He was very tough. Unfortunately, I was a bit lonely on the home straight and didn't have anything to take me into the race, which the horse would have preferred. HMS President battled all the way to the line and he may have won with another stride. That's racing."

Andrea Atzeni said: “It was a good run from Restorer – he maybe doesn't stay a mile and a half.”

Sean Levey said: “Sam Cooke ran a blinder. He's known to sometimes do things the wrong way. He settled all the way through the race, picked up well and I thought I was in with a chance. But I got a little bit tight for room and then got tired. We got points for the team anyway.”

Team standings: LADIES 38. ROW 33. GB 29. IRE 20

Cieren Fallon took Great Britain back to the top of the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup standings when winning the Mile aboard Dashing Roger.

Run over the round mile, Fallon produced 5/1 co-favourite Dashing Roger with a furlong to race and strode clear for an authoritative success. Young Fire (12/1) for Sean Levey and the Rest of the World ran on for second, beaten a length and three-quarters.

Ireland collected useful points, with Joe Fanning steering Raising Sand (5/1 co-fav) into third and David Egan partnering the fourth Revich.

After four races, Nicola Currie maintained her place atop the Alistair Haggis “Silver Saddle” Trophy standings with 25 points. Sean Levey moved into second with 21 points in total. James Doyle, David Egan and Cieren Fallon were next on the leaderboard, tied on 20 points.

Great Britain led the team competition on 47 points, with Rest of the World close behind on 43 points. The Ladies were next on 38 points, with Ireland still close enough to challenge on 32 points.

Fallon said: “It was all to do with the horse. I was on the best horse in the race. He jumped well and I was in a lovely position. I got a little bit of cover, saved ground up there on the inside and we've got a lot of room up there in the home straight.

“As soon as I pulled him out, he quickened nicely and put the race to bed pretty easily, in a matter of strides. His turn of foot took me by surprise and for a horse to quicken like that in that ground was brilliant.

“Dashing Roger used to have a mark of 74. Marco Ghiani rode him, claimed 5lb and he won off 69 [at Yarmouth last year], and he's just gone and won here at Ascot off 90-odd. That's pretty incredible. He’s a tough animal that loves to run. He is very enthusiastic – what a genuine, tough little horse.

Winning trainer William Stone, enjoying his first success at Ascot, said: “Dashing Roger has been a fantastic little horse. I am thrilled with him.

“I train from a place just near Horseheath. We’ve got private gallops there and we can get to Newmarket easily. We have about 20 in training. I think he's got to be the star of the team. We've been very lucky and we've got a few nice horses now, but he would probably be the highest rated.

“He needed some soft ground, and I know he's a very good horse on soft ground. If that had been good ground, he wouldn't have had a hope, he just acts on it. There's just something about him that he seems to handle it so much better than other horses. But even if you worked him on an artificial surface, you wouldn't see the horse to that level. You'd see the horse as a good horse, but not a horse that could sort of win a race like that, without the soft ground.

“And the other thing is he only cost £800, or rather 800 guineas. His owner found him at Doncaster and never looked back. I presume he's got to look at listed races really, but it'll just be ground dependent, you just wouldn't run him if there wasn't some cut in the ground.”

Sean Levey said: “The rain didn't come for Young Fire. If it had, he probably would have won today.”

Joe Fanning said: “Raising Sand ran well. I missed the kick and things didn't go right. I had to come wide, and we just didn't have the luck of the race really."

Team standings: GB 47. ROW 43. LADIES 38. IRE 32

Nicola Currie secured the Alistair Haggis “Silver Saddle” Trophy with victory aboard the aptly named State Of Bliss in the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Classic.

Currie – who was scoring for the second time after victory aboard Just Hubert in the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Stayers – also took her Ladies team to the top of the overall standings on 62 points, five points clear of Great Britain with a race to go.

James Doyle on Star Caliber (10/3 fav) built up a healthy advantage at halfway in the 12-furlong contest, attempting to make the race a test of stamina. However, Currie on State of Bliss and the Andrea Atzeni-ridden Annandale, both trained by Mark Johnston, had the front runner covered and quickened away in the straight.

State of Bliss (9/2) soon put the race to bed, striding clear for a three and three-quarter length victory over the Rest of the World’s Annandale (6/1). Star Caliber hung on for third to secure crucial points for Great Britain, a neck behind the runner-up.

Currie said: “What a day – it's unbelievable to win the “Silver Saddle”. I was hoping I might nick one today or the team could win on points, but to have a double and still another race to go. I thought this leading jockey’s armband would be harder to keep than a driver's licence!

“I had a very straightforward ride on State Of Bliss. I jumped to be positive, but we went a really hard gallop, so I just settled him in on the way round. He just keeps finding, so I really wanted to get him rolling as soon as I could and thankfully, I was able to do that. The further we went, the better he has gone.”

Asked if today could spark her career further, Currie added: “I really hope so. It's tough for everybody, especially at the minute – there are so many jockeys and so many good jockeys out there.

“You need a few winners to get the flag going again and this is really going to help. I want to keep the ball rolling. I don't want to just sit on the sidelines and do it just to get by. I want to make a good go of it, so hopefully this can pick things back up again.”

Mark Johnston said: “It was frustrating when you have one who keeps going up the handicap for finishing second.

“Today, State Of Bliss finished so well. He's won today on what is good to soft ground over a trip we thought would be far for him – it opens up a lot of doors. I've been having a dig at Barbara [Richmond, part-owner] there because he was second at Nottingham and I said he needs to go further, and she said he didn't want to go beyond a mile. Nicola has come in today and said ‘he’ll go as far as you like really!’

“I’d have sworn Annandale was going to win when I saw the leader coming back to him. I think the ground is probably quite testing out there though – Andrea thought it possibly cost him the race, chasing after the winner and used a lot of energy off the bend. But State Of Bliss has just outstayed them all.”

Andrea Atzeni said: “Annandale ran well. He just got tired close home as I had to go after the winner.”

James Doyle said: “Star Caliber was too keen – I couldn’t hold onto him.”

Team standings: LADIES 62. GB 57. ROW 53. IRE 36

It was a win for Ireland in the final race of the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup with Mitrosonfire and Joe Fanning taking the Sprint, but it wasn’t enough to overhaul the Ladies team who secured the team competition.

In what was a thrilling finale, Ireland landed a 1-2-4 to score 30 points and jump from fourth to second in the overall standings, three points behind the victorious Ladies team.

In the concluding six-furlong event, Mitrosonfire (17/2) just held off Irish team-mate Crazy Luck (16/1) and Tadhg O’Shea to score by a neck. Alistair Haggis “Silver Saddle” Trophy winner Nicola Currie was a short-head behind on Royal Scimitar (5/1) in third, in what proved to be crucial points for the Ladies team.

Mitrosonfire gave training partnership William Muir and Chris Grassick a double on the day.

Fanning said: “Ascot has been a good track for me and it's nice to ride a winner today. I travelled well into the race and, when I got there, he just seemed to idle a little bit.

“William said, ‘take a lead on him and he does idle a little bit’, which he did. He's done well, he's game, you know, so it's very nice.”

William Muir said: “We actually came here really fancying him, the way it's been going. He went to the big race at Newmarket and everything went in and one broke out the stalls, so they had to unload and it really wound him up.”

Reflecting on the double, Muir added: “That’s what it’s all about. This is what we want, winners, and this place is just great to have them. These two owners have been with me from day one and Clive [Edginton] said to me ‘we've been trying to have an Ascot winner for 25 years’. He’s captain of the R&A and he’s up in Scotland. I said we'd have had a party if he had been here! He's such a great guy. And this one for Johnno [O’Mulloy], he was with me when I was assistant for Kim Brassey and he came with me dead straight away, so he was my very first owner. He’s battled away and got over illness this year, so go on Johnno, you deserve it.”

Tadgh O’Shea said: “It was a great run from Crazy Luck. I could have done with a lead for 100 yards longer on my side, but she's run a cracker. Rod was delighted she got into the race and she ran really well.”

Nicola Currie said: “Royal Scimitar ran very well. I was instructed to come the stands' side and that is where the quicker ground was. However, it was still a bit on the slow side today and he did his best pieces of work at the end of the race so I cannot fault him.”

Final team standings:

LADIES 69

IRE 66

GB 64

ROW 53

Final individual standings:

Nicola Currie LADIES 47

David Egan IRE 29

James Doyle GB 27

Cieren Fallon GB 27

Joe Fanning IRE 27

Sean Levey ROW 21

Andrea Atzeni ROW 17

Kevin Stott ROW 15

Mickaelle Michel LADIES 15

Adam Kirby GB 10

Tadhg O'Shea IRE 10

Hayley Turner LADIES 7