Team Asia lifts the 2025 trophy at Ascot.
The usual polite and faintly smarmy tone of British media coverage of the Shergar Cup at Ascot racecourse was upended at the weekend when a racing luminary said some visiting jockeys at the 2025 event weren’t good enough.
“There are some bloody good riders here today, but the general feeling among trainers is that the standard of jockey is noticeably lower than usual,” said Maureen Haggas, daughter of the late great Lester Piggott.
“Hugh Bowman and Karis Teetan are very good riders but, without pointing any fingers, there are one or two who maybe shouldn’t be here,” said the wife of, and assistant to, top trainer William Haggas.
“This is a good event, a great concept and a popular day, but trainers need to have confidence in the jockeys. I’m not trying to be cruel about anyone, but I think the organisers need to be a little more selective.
“I also think they should have kept the Ladies team.”
Haggas’s comments quickly went viral.
SA jockeys in action
No South African jockeys took part, though Mauritian Karis Teetan, who Haggas mentioned, trained at the SA Jockey Academy and rode here for several years.
Last year, Rachel Venniker showed off the high quality of SA’s jockeyship when she won a Shergar Cup race, while champion Gavin Lerena won two at the fixture a few years ago. Weichong Marwing distinguished himself there, as did S’Manga Khumalo despite crummy rides.
Teetan, nowadays a star in Hong Kong, captained the Rest of the World team which took on Europe, Asia and the UK & Ireland on Saturday.
The other ROW riders were American Katie Davis, who starred in the recent Netflix series Race for the Crown, and Australian Hugh Bowman, who won a race and the Silver Saddle trophy for most points scored on the day.
The Cup was won by Team Asia – an Indian and two Japanese – competing for the first time after replacing the Ladies team that was very successful over the past decade.
Ride of the Day went to Indian champion Suraj Narrendu, whose delight at winning at such a famous place – on Fireblade for former South African trainer Dylan Cunha – in the Stayers race was surely heart-warming to even the most cynical.
The 12 competing riders came from 10 countries.
‘Exasperation’
Haggas actually saddled a winner for her yard on the day: Tenability, who was steered to a neck victory by France’s Delphine Santiago in the Classic.
International jockey challenges are really just a giggle. They don’t count for much but stir fleeting patriotic sentiment and curiosity about riding styles – and pull a decent crowd.
Many trainers and hard-core punters aren’t keen, though.
Racing Post’s Chris Cook wrote: “My instinct is to defend the Shergar Cup … I’m afraid there were quite a few basic errors and we saw some odd-looking behaviour in the saddle. It’s easy to see why a trainer would feel … exasperation.
“It’s appropriate to make allowances. These riders are far from home, surrounded by strangers, in some cases dealing with a language barrier, trying to steer unfamiliar animals round an unfamiliar course while competing with unfamiliar rivals under unfamiliar rules. How many of us could perform to our best in those circumstances?”
