Moore’s Silver Saddle masterclass seals the Shergar Cup – and points straight to York
Hong Kong’s dream debut and a champagne ambush lit up Ascot, but the real story is a champion rolling into the Juddmonte
Twenty years is a long time to be away, but Ryan Moore made up for lost time in a single afternoon. On his first Shergar Cup appearance since 2006, he drove Great Britain & Ireland to victory and took the Alistair Haggis Silver Saddle as the meeting’s leading rider, contributing 47 of the home side’s 81 points. Saffie Osborne’s team finished 19 clear of Hong Kong and Europe, who shared second on 62.
Moore’s contribution was a reminder of the class the wider public had been missing. He struck twice, on Asgard’s Captain in the Challenge and Archers Bay in the Classic, taking his career tally at Ascot beyond 178 and effectively settling both the individual and team titles. That he was there at all owed something to the calendar, with the Curragh’s Phoenix Stakes shifted to the Sunday. Osborne played her part on the track with victory in the Sprint aboard Red Spells Danger, then produced the moment of the day off it, chasing Moore across the paddock with a bottle of champagne in a scene made for ITV’s cameras.
The headline debutants did more than make up the numbers. Team Hong Kong, appearing for the first time, won the opening two races, Jerry Chau leading home a one-two with captain Vincent Ho in the Dash before Luke Ferraris landed the Stayers. Ascot had framed the tie-up with the Hong Kong Jockey Club, and the tournament’s arrival on the World Pool stage, as a landmark moment, and the newcomers backed the billing with a debut full of intent. On this evidence they look a permanent, and highly competitive, fixture.
Europe had the final word. Frida Valle-Skar swept clear on Crown Board in the closing Mile for her first winner at Ascot, keeping the points away from Hong Kong and rounding out a day that spread its spoils widely.
For all the international flavour, the through-line runs one way. The Shergar Cup has long bridged the gap between Glorious Goodwood and York’s Ebor Festival, and this year the link is unusually direct. While the overseas visitors head home, Great Britain & Ireland’s stars turn straight towards the Knavesmire and the meeting that begins on 19 August.
Moore is the obvious thread: he is the rider of Constitution River, the Coral-Eclipse winner his trainer says he rates as the best he has sat on, with the Juddmonte International under serious consideration. That would set up a collision with Ombudsman, the highest-rated horse in the world, in what many are already calling the race of the season. Osborne and Dylan Browne McMonagle, both in the form of their lives, carry their own momentum north.
From a champagne-soaked Ascot to a Juddmonte for the ages, the summer’s momentum is pointing firmly at York.
Key takeaways:
- Winners: Great Britain & Ireland, 81 pts (Hong Kong and Europe next on 62; Rest of the World back in fourth)
- Top jockey: Ryan Moore, 47 pts – Silver Saddle (his second, after 2006)
- Race by race: Dash – Chau (HK); Challenge – Moore (GB&I); Stayers – Ferraris (HK); Sprint – Osborne (GB&I); Classic – Moore (GB&I); Mile – Valle-Skar (Europe)
- New this year: Team Hong Kong (capt. Vincent Ho); first World Pool event staged outside Group 1
- Next stop: Ebor Festival, 19–22 August – watch Moore and Constitution River in the Juddmonte, potentially v Ombudsman
