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Turner Surge Helps Ladies Retain Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup
Hayley Turner claimed the Alistair Haggis Silver Saddle for a record third time as her last-gasp success in the concluding Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Mile saw her edge out Rachel Venniker.
Both jockeys ended the competition with 35 points, although Turner’s two winners on the day saw the Ladies captain receive the leading jockey award on countback, adding to her successes in 2018 and 2019.
The most successful jockey in the history of the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup has now ridden 11 winners at the meeting, three more than her nearest rival, and amassed 357 points during her 17 appearances.
Turner said: “It’s so nice. I’ve got three Silver Saddles now and Alistair Haggis was a big inspiration for getting the girls involved in the Shergar Cup, so it means a lot.
“Alistair Haggis was actually the reason that the girls started on the Shergar Cup teams. When I started there were two teams and Alistair suggested that each team had a girl, so Emma-Jayne represented the Rest of the World and I represented Great Britain and Ireland. Since then, it has just snowballed. Obviously, Alistair is not with us now but he played a key part in all the Shergar Cup victories I've had.
“It’s always such a fun event. It’s great as everyone gets involved and it’s a really light, fun atmosphere. It’s great and something a bit different. The team was so much fun. I really enjoyed their company and everyone rode so well. We've got wristbands for the concert as well – I probably won't be getting home early tonight!”
The Ladies team produced a late charge to come from last to first in the final race, with Joanna Mason’s short-head second on Yantarni helping the team take the Dubai Free Shergar Cup for a fifth time since a female team was introduced in 2012.
Mason said: “It’s brilliant to be part of the winning team. Obviously, Hayley has had a fantastic day, riding two winners. It’s something a bit different, but the girls have come out on top and have actually won a lot of the races today, which just shows that stereotypes are going out the window and women jockeys are coming to the fore. It’s a brilliant day, and nice to be in a team and have such good camaraderie.”
Marie Velon, who also represented the Ladies, said: “It’s such an honour to be here on the Ladies team and I’m so happy that we have won again. It’s wonderful for me.”
This year’s Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup was the first to feature an all-female Rest of the World team, in addition to the Ladies team, and women jockeys rode a record-equalling four wins on the card, matching 2023’s total.
Rachel King, who captained the Rest of the World, received the Dubai Duty Free Ride Of The Day Award for her win on the Alan King-trained Insanity in the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Challenge.
King said: “It’s been a good, fun day and definitely a different kind of atmosphere. It’s been really good to compete and to get a winner made it even better as well.
“It was good to team up with Alan King, who is obviously my old boss from a few years ago, and he and the owners gave me a good bit of confidence before the race. It panned out perfectly, really. They did go pretty quick early, which probably suited my horse, and he had to be a little bit tough late. He probably doesn’t find a huge amount off the bridle, but he stuck his nose out when it counted.”
Final team standings
LADIES 71
EUR 60
ROW 58
GBI 55
Final Alistair Haggis Silver Saddle standings
Hayley Turner LADIES 35
Rachel Venniker ROW 35
Billy Loughnane GBI 28
Jose-Luis Borrego EUR 28
Marie Velon LADIES 22
Alberto Sanna EUR 17
Seamie Heffernan GBI 15
Bauyrzhan Murzabayev EUR 15
Rachel King ROW 15
Joanna Mason LADIES 14
Tadhg O'Shea GBI 12
Nanako Fujita ROW 8
Shergar Cup 2023
Shergar Cup 2022
Shergar Cup 2021
Shergar Cup 2020
