 |
|
|
|
|
Shergar Cup 2007 |
Darren Beadman to Make British Riding Debut
09/05/07
Legendary Australian rider Darren Beadman will make his British riding debut for the Rest of the World Team at the 2007 Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup. He will take part under the guidance of the six times Hong Kong champion jockey, Doug Whyte, who has been recruited as Captain for the Rest of the World, and alongside Japanese superstar, Yutaka Take.
Beadman, 41, has an exceptional record in the saddle. Seven times champion
jockey in Sydney including a record 152 winners set last season, he looks
nailed on to make it eight Sydney premierships this season and is also
in pole position to regain the national premiership crown which he last
took more than ten years ago.
Sensationally he quit racing on Boxing Day 1997 to become a Baptist
preacher, but he made his comeback in January 2000. His big race tally
includes two Melbourne Cups (Kingston Rule and Saintly), a Cox Plate
(Saintly) and two Golden Slippers (Inspired and Guineas). Last month
he took the AJC Derby on Fiumicino, capping a fantastic Sydney autumn
carnival which yielded four Group 1 victories for him.
It will be the third time that South African Doug Whyte has ridden in the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup. The 35-year-old, who is now the second most successful jockey in Hong Kong of all time, has won two Shergar Cup races, both in 2004.
Yutaka Take is Japan’s most successful ever jockey and his country’s biggest sporting hero, with a string of big race victories under his belt. This will also be Take’s third time riding in the competition and though he has yet to register a winner, he has three seconds and a third to his name from his 10 rides to date.
Chris Stickels, Ascot’s Clerk of the Course, said: “Doug Whyte loves this event, rides Ascot really well and will be a fantastic Team Captain for the Rest of the World, while Yutaka Take is the greatest Japanese jockey of all time and has been riding at Ascot for many years.
“It’s a great coup for us to get Darren Beadman to complete a really strong Rest of the World line-up. His big race record in Australia is second to none and he’ll have no problem adapting to the Ascot track.”
The jockeys for the other three teams will be announced in due course.
