Ireland win Shergar Cup
Ireland retained the trophy in the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup at Ascot.
They scored 80 points to beat Europe by eight points, with the Rest of the World finishing ahead of Great Britain for third. Fran Berry, the reigning Irish champion jockey, took the silver saddle award for the leading individual performance, highlighted by his victory on Bernie The Bolt in the St Hallett Shergar Cup Stayers Handicap and two second places.
“Today was a dream come true," Berry, who was a late call up for the event, said. "I must be the happiest man alive to have finished second in the last race! I only got the call up to ride on Tuesday and today has exceeded my wildest expectations.
“I had a good draw with my rides today and was fortunate to get mounts for some excellent trainers. It was great to ride Bernie The Bolt for Andrew Balding, as the horse is owned by an Irishman."
Richard Hughes, captain for Ireland, had ended last week’s Glorious Goodwood meeting with a record nine winners. This time he had to settle for a supporting role but was clearly happy enough with that. “There was no winner for myself but an Ireland win is great for the lads” he said, adding with a grin. “I can’t put it down to anything inspiring that I said.”
This was the 10th time that the Shergar Cup has been staged at Ascot and its place in the calendar can now be said to be firmly established.
There will still be a few who will find the concept of a team competition against the essentially individual ethos of the sport and cheerleaders as another sign of the dreaded “dumbing down” process. However if they are looking for an ally in Mark Johnston they were in for a rude awakening.
Mister Angry, his winner of the Titanic Quarter Shergar Cup Classic, could have been named after Johnston, who rarely shies away from expressing an opinion on racing’s more heated issues, but the trainer was full of praise for the event.
“The thing I’m particularly in favour about is the prize money on offer. Where else do you get £30,000 races when the fields are limited to 10 – hence we’ve got 15 runners through the day. We run where the prize money is.”
Mister Angry was ridden by Alan Munro, for the Great Britain team but Johnston was not worried by which of the world-class jockeys he may have allocated to his runners, even if, Yasunari Iwata, the Japanese rider, required the assistance of an interpreter.
The success of the competition can be measured by an attendance of 28,741 – compared to 28,677 for King George day at Ascot last month – and there was also an innovation with the jockeys silks themed – green and white for Ireland – with distinguishing caps and sleeves with checks, hoops or stars.
Which proved that the Shergar Cup is a winner in black and white by the balance sheet of paying customers, and now in colour as well.
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