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Prolific duo set for Shergar
Russell Baze and Jorge Ricardo, the top two winning jockeys in the world, met for the first time yesterday ahead of tomorrow's Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup, where they will join forces as part of the Rest of the World team.
As of August 4 the pair had enjoyed 10,234 and 10,299 victories, respectively, and are the only riders to have broken through into five figures.
However, the duo and team captain Yutaka Take are the outsiders at 7-1 with Ladbrokes to lift the Shergar Cup, with Ireland and Europe joint-favourites at 7-4 and Great Britain on offer at 3s.
Hayley Turner will take charge of the British team and be joined by Seb Sanders and Frankie Dettori, while Jamie Spencer captains Ireland and has Kevin Manning and Richard Hughes batting for him.
The European contingent is led by France's Gerald Mosse and he is joined by Italian Mirco Demuro as well as Turkey's greatest rider in history Halis Karatas.
California-based Baze and South American icon Ricardo have dominated the build-up to this year's renewal of the jockeys' championship, and shook hands for the first time under the watchful eye of heavyweight legend Frank Bruno.
Baze, celebrating his 50th birthday, said: "It is fantastic to be here – Ascot is a wonderful facility and is one of the greatest tracks in the world. I never forecasted so many wins when I started my career, and I am happy to be on a team with someone who has achieved more than I have.
"Michael Dickinson has coached me a little for this weekend. He has given me some hints and sent me a DVD of last year's Shergar Cup.
"I haven't ridden over a straight mile before or ridden right-handed but I don't anticipate too many problems and the horses are used to going that way."
Ricardo said: "It is a great pleasure for me to be invited to an event of such magnitude. I hope that it will go well and that we will be victorious.
"I never imagined that I would get to achieve so many victories. It has been a real pleasure to meet and get to know Mr Baze who is an outstanding jockey, and it is an honour to be on the same team."
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Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
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Temperature: -2 C to 0 C
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