Trainer Mark Johnston found himself on the Ascot winners’ podium after Sapa Inca’s victory in the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Classic, his Galileo filly justifying 4/1 favouritism. She came with a late run under Hayley Turner for The Girls to win by a going-away three-quarters of a length.
“My other two runners here today could never land a blow, they were out of their comfort zone the whole way, but Sapa Inca has done this well,” said Johnston.
“Hayley said that she’d conflicting advice from Franny Norton and Silvestre de Sousa, previous riders of the horse – Franny has said that she could be keen. But there was such pace on today she never got a chance to be keen!”
INCA ON THE RIGHT TRAIL FOR TURNER
The Girls captain Hayley Turner recorded a 36.5/1 double at the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup following the success of 4/1 favourite Sapa Inca, trained by Mark Johnston, in the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Classic.
The three-year-old daughter of Galileo recorded a three-quarter length success in the 12-furlong contest.
Turner was successful earlier today aboard 13/2 shot in the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Stayers
Turner, who is on 30 points in the race for the Silver Saddle, five points behind front-runner Mark Zahra, said: “This is great, isn’t it? Sapa Inca did it really well. They went very hard and the gaps just opened for me.
“I managed to get her in touch without having to ask her to do too much and, like a typical Mark Johnston horse, she just grinded it out.”
Turner’s father Richard was delighted to see his daughter record another success at the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup. He said: “It’s fantastic. We love this meeting and it is great to be here to watch Hayley win two races.
“It is an event we always look forward to and it’s lovely to see Hayley be a part of it.”
The Rest of the World team lead the standings with 79 points ahead of Team Europe with 55 points. The Girls have 53 points, whilst Great Britain and Ireland have 13 points.
ZAHRA HAS HIS EYES ON THE PRIZE
“That’s twice Hayley’s got the better of me in a finish! But the horse has run really well,” said Australian jockey Mark Zahra after finishing second behind the Hayley Turner-ridden Sapa Inca in the 12-furlong Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Classic.
Zahra was riding 9/2 chance Never Do Nothing, a three-year-old son of Casamento, for Andrew Balding, and finished three-quarters of a length behind Sapa Inca.
Balding said: “He’s been very consistent all year. He’s done nothing wrong and he’s run another good race.”
The 15 points earned by Zahra for his victory means he has taken the lead in the Alastair Haggas Silver Saddle contest. He has 35 points, and has overtaken Filip Minarik, who sits on 32 points, alongside Vincent Ho Chak-Yiu. Turner is fourth with 30 points.
“I’d better pull something out of the bag in the last,” laughed Zahra.
Third, a length and a half behind Never Do Nothing, was 11/1 chance Aspire Tower, trained by Steve Gollings and ridden by Vincent Ho Chak-Yiu.
Ho Chak-Yiu said: “He ran well. He was just a little bit laid-back in the first half of the race. We expected him to sit in third or fourth position, but he couldn’t make it.
“I started to get him rolling when I was three wide, but the horse in front blocked our run and I had to go four wide. He is a big, one-paced horse, so going four wide didn’t help him. He stayed on well.”
The Rest of the World team now has 79, points, giving them a substantial lead over second-placed Europe with 55 points. The Girls are chasing them with 53 points, while GBI languish in fourth with 13 points.
RESULT 5
3:25pm £60,000 Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Classic 1m 3f 211y
1 (9) Sapa Inca (IRE) 3 9 5 Mark Johnston China Horse Club International Limited Hayley Turner GIRLS 4/1FAV
2 (7) Never Do Nothing (IRE) 3 9 8 Andrew Balding Mr A Brooke-Rankin & Partner Mark Zahra ROW 9/2
3 (8) Aspire Tower (IRE) 3 9 5 Steve Gollings North Yorkshire B’stock and B. McNeill Vincent C. Y. Ho ROW 11/1
4 (4) Yellow Tiger (FR) p 3 9 1 Ian Williams Mr K. Sohi Jamie Kah GIRLS 20/1
5 (12) Zuba 3 8 10 (3lb ex) Amanda Perrett John Connolly & Odile Griffith Nanako Fujita (3) GIRLS 13/2
6 (11) Asian Angel (IRE) 3 9 4 Mark Johnston Dr J. Walker Jamie Spencer GBI 7/1
7 (10) Vivid Diamond (IRE) 3 9 12 Mark Johnston Mr Markus Graff Tadhg O’Shea GBI 6/1
8 (3) Boerhan 3 10 0 William Haggas Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum Danny Tudhope GBI 9/2
9 (5) Sophosc (IRE) 3 9 3 Joseph Tuite The Harefield Racing Club Adrie de Vries EUR 16/1
10 (1) Amber Spark (IRE) 3 9 1 Richard Fahey Nick Bradley Racing 9 & Sohi and Partner Gerald Mosse EUR 22/1
Non-Runner: Rowland Ward (Vet’s Certificate, Bad Scope) replaced by first reserve Zuba
Time: 2m 32.57s
Distances: ¾, 1½, hd, nk, sh, ¾, 3½, 14, 10
Tote win: £4.40 PL: £1.80 £1.60 £3.70 Ex: £14.40 CSF: £22.61 Tricast: £187.17 Trifecta: £46.90
DUBAI DUTY FREE SHERGAR CUP
79 ROW
55 EUR
53 GIRLS
13 GBI
ALISTAIR HAGGIS SILVER SADDLE
35 Mark Zahra ROW
32 Filip Minarik EUR
32 Vincent C. Y. Ho ROW
30 Hayley Turner GIRLS
17 Gerald Mosse EUR
12 Yuga Kawada ROW
10 Jamie Kah GIRLS
8 Nanako Fujita (3) GIRLS
8 Tadhg O’Shea GBI
6 Adrie de Vries EUR
5 Jamie Spencer GBI
0 Danny Tudhope GBI