Irish Eyes Are Smiling

Winners from Fran Berry and Colm O'Donoghue inspired Ireland to a late comeback victory in the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup at Ascot.

The team jockey competition has now been secured by the Irish for the last three years, but skipper Richard Hughes's team had to wait until the very last race to pass Great Britain and the Rest of the World.

The decisive moment came in the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Sprint when Berry and the Peter Makin-trained Morache Music (6-1) led home O'Donoghue and Desert Law. This meant Ireland finished on 70 points, Britain on 63, the Rest of the World on 57 and Europe on 50.

Paul Hanagan's third place on Firebeam, added to a winner in the opening race, allowed the British captain to win the Silver Saddle as the top rider.

Berry said: "That was a good way to end the day. When we were pulling up we were doing our sums and we thought we'd got it.

"I had a great day here last year and I'd like to thank Ascot for the opportunity to come back. If we could work it out we'd love to do something similar in Ireland as it seems a great way to get new people into racing."

With cheerleaders and plenty of razzmatazz, the Shergar Cup attracts some derision from within the sport, but a young-looking crowd of over 30,000 had made their way to Ascot, so Berry's instincts appeared to be correct.

Ireland's other winner came from Parlour Games (15-2) in the Titanic Belfast Shergar Cup Classic and it was slightly ironic that O'Donoghue's mount was provided by Godolphin trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni, as the jockey usually rides for the team's great rival Aidan O'Brien.

The chestnut was improving on his earlier form this season as he was driven three-quarters of a length clear of favourite Ithoughtitwasover.

O'Donoghue said: "There are great jockeys from around the world competing today and it's really nice to be part of it. I spoke to Frankie Dettori about the horse this morning and his advice worked well. It's about getting in there and getting the job done and I'm happy to ride a winner for the connections."

Fallon Going For It

Kieren Fallon vowed to "throw everything at it" as he bids to be crowned champion jockey for a seventh time.

Fallon is currently fourth in the championship, behind Silvestre de Sousa, Paul Hanagan and the injured Ryan Moore. The experienced rider is, however, determined to up the ante as the season progresses.

He said: "I've been lazy all year and haven't been taking that many rides, but I think now we've got a couple of months left, I'm going to throw everything at it and see how we go."

Fallon is the only jockey who looks capable of catching De Sousa and Hanagan, with Ryan Moore seemingly out for most, if not all, of the season following a fall at Goodwood on Saturday.

Fallon can empathise with Moore's situation.

"The same thing happened to me a few years ago. I was a long way in front and I didn't get back for six months," he told At The Races.

"I don't think Ryan's injuries are as bad as first thought, which is good.

Catterick Review

Regular punters at Catterick will have had a good day as two winners on the card were repeating their victories of 12 months ago and both Night Trade and the 10-year-old Eijaaz seem to have a special affinity for the venue.

Eijaaz is a real character and certainly thinks about the game, but he was winning for the 12th time in his 79th race in the racinguk.com Classified Claiming Stakes.

Sent off at 2-1 under Robert Winston, Geoff Harker's veteran was registering his seventh win at the track when arriving from the rear to beat Hel's Angel by half a length.


The trainer said: "He doesn't fill you with confidence on a morning, but when he gets here he comes alive. He's been a star for us and he keeps the numbers up. That's three he's won this year and he won four last year too. He'll have a home for life with us."

Night Trade (5-1) bounced back to form for Deborah Sanderson in the 12th August Is Ladies Evening Handicap. Despite carrying top weight to victory, she was actually racing off a 2lb lower mark than last year in beating North Central by a length and a quarter.


Silvestre de Sousa moved ahead of Paul Hanagan for the first time in the race to be champion jockey after a double, taking the opening two races on Mark Johnston's Eraada and Tim Pitt's Dark Spirit.

Eraada (5-1) won the British Stallion Studs Supporting British Racing EBF Maiden, while Dark Spirit (5-4 favourite) hacked up in the yorkshire-outdoors.co.uk Selling Stakes by 12 lengths.

Hanagan pulled one back when Blown It got up in the final few strides of the Book Now For Saturday 17th September Handicap. The well-backed 6-4 favourite has found a new lease of life since joining Keith Dalgleish.


The champion jockey said: "He needed plenty of persuasion. He doesn't do himself any favours because as soon as he gets in the stalls he has a bit of a mess about and nine times out of 10 he misses the break. They went hard up front, which suited him as he had something to aim at."

Of the title race, he went on: "It's going great again this season. The title is not the be-all-and-end-all, but the next month will be vital. You only need to see what happened to Ryan (Moore) to see how quickly it can change. I'll be trying to steer clear of injury and out of the stewards' room."

News On Requinto

David Wachman must decide whether to stay over the minimum distance or step back up to six furlongs with Requinto, impressive winner at Glorious Goodwood.

The Tipperary Listed scorer took in his stride the rise to Group Three class with a superb performance in the Molecomb Stakes, dashing home over the five furlongs to win comfortably, and although plans remain fluid, Requinto still holds an entry in Sunday's six-furlong Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh.


Wachman said: "He seems to be fine. He's had an easy enough week and we'll just play it by ear with him and see where we go now. I'll speak to the owners and see what they want to do, but there are a lot of possible options."

He added: "It is a matter of trying to pick the right race on the right day.

"He's coming forward and hopefully he'll continue to progress."

Hanagan "Skipper" On Saturday

Paul Hanagan will captain Great Britain's Shergar Cup team at Ascot on Saturday.


The champion jockey was announced as part of the side on Monday along with Hayley Turner and Jim Crowley while Olivier Peslier will lead a European team comprising himself, fellow Frenchman Christophe Lemaire and the Italian Mirco Demuro.

The Irish team (Richard Hughes, Fran Berry and Colm O'Donoghue) and the Rest of the World (Doug Whyte, Yutaka Take and Hugh Bowman) had already been announced.

Game On!

Brazilian ace Silvestre de Sousa brought himself level with Paul Hanagan in the race to be crowned champion jockey with an excellent treble at Ripon.

With Ryan Moore looking likely to miss the remainder of the campaign following a fall at Glorious Goodwood, this year's title is set to be fought out by the two northern-based riders.


While reigning champ Hanagan was suspended for the day, De Sousa made the most of his absence by rattling up a hat-trick of winners, meaning the pair head to Catterick on Tuesday locked together on 87.

The highlight of the treble was victory on David O'Meara's Pepper Lane, who turned what looked to be a competitive Armstrong Memorial Handicap into a procession.

The 15-2 chance was competing off a 7lb higher mark than when successful at Redcar on her latest start but it has certainly not halted her progress judged on this emphatic two-and-a-quarter-length victory over Gap Princess.

O'Meara said: "She was very impressive today and I'm really happy with her. She's obviously improving all the time and I might bring her back here for the Great St Wilfrid. We'll just see how she is but it looked a good race today and she's done it really well. Hopefully she can remain in good form."

Moore Waits For Surgery

Ryan Moore will have to wait until Tuesday to have surgery on his broken thumb and his broken humerus.

Different specialists are required to operate on the three-times champion jockey, and that is the first day they are both available.

Moore remains in St Richard's Hospital in Chichester after breaking his upper arm and thumb in a nasty fall at Glorious Goodwood on Saturday that could put him out for the rest of the season.

He was brought down when riding the Sir Michael Stoute-trained Verdant in the Toyo Tires Summer Handicap.

"Because of the severity of the injury, he's going to have a specialist to fix his thumb and a different specialist to do surgery on his shoulder," said his father, West Sussex trainer Gary Moore.