Balding looking to bolt in for double

Andrew Balding can dream of achieving the Newmarket autumn double with two of his winners at the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup at Ascot.

Balding's 3-1 favourite Bernie The Bolt enjoyed a convincing success in the St Hallett Shergar Cup Stayers to help Fran Berry win the Silver Saddle for the leading individual rider of the team jockey competition.

Berry's Ireland team regained the overall trophy on 80 points over six races, with Europe on 72, the Rest Of The World 45 and Great Britain on 43.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Balding's Set The Trend (9-2) also took the Les Ambassadeurs Club Shergar Cup Mile thanks to a cool ride from the Australian Luke Nolen.

"It has been a lucky meeting for us so we keep a couple back for it," explained Balding.

"It particularly suited Bernie The Bolt, as it is tough to find races for horses rated in the mid-90s.

"He has not had much luck in his two runs this year, firstly in the Chester Cup and then in the Northumberland Plate, where he got into awful trouble.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"The Cesarewitch is very much the target. He will probably go up in the weights for this so we may have to claim off him."

Of Set The Trend, he added: "He's a straightforward horse who deserved to win at Epsom and things just didn't work out for him last time. He could be a Cambridgeshire horse."

Berry nearly took the concluding Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Sprint on 9-4 favourite Gene Autry but while he could not catch European captain Olivier Peslier and Gramercy (4-1), the second-place points were enough for Ireland to follow up from 2009.

Mark Johnston ran 14 horses overall and managed a one-two-three in the Michael Page International Shergar Cup Challenge.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Great Britain captain Hayley Turner took top honours on Yorgunnabelucky (9-1), who dictated proceedings just as he did at Pontefract on Wednesday and finished well up on 2-1 favourite Emerging Artist and Submariner.

Johnston also gave Great Britain the Titanic Quarter Shergar Cup Classic when Alan Munro dragged Mister Angry (16-1) across the line a short-head to the good.

Christophe Soumillon had started the meeting well for Europe by winning the Barclays Shergar Cup Dash on Robert Cowell's Prohibit (5-2 favourite).

"He was one of my good rides today and I had seen him a few times in Dubai - I told my agent I wanted to ride him when I was out there," said Soumillon.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Cowell added: "He's a proper horse - I'm sure he's capable of running in Listed races now."

Paul Hanagan hopes to be back in action on today after giving up all his mounts over the weekend due to illness. The northern-based rider, who is leading the race for the Flat jockeys' championship, developed a sickness bug after adding to his impressive haul with a four-timer at Musselburgh on Friday.

Hanagan, stable jockey to North Yorkshire trainer Richard Fahey, has rides booked at Southwell and Thirsk.

Harbinger is reported to be in a comfortable condition following surgery after suffering a career-threatening leg injury.

The brilliant winner of the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes, owned by Highclere Thoroughbred Racing, fractured his near-fore cannon bone during a routine spin on the gallops in Newmarket.

Related topics: