Hayley Turner claimed a record ninth success at the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup as she steered Manaccan (7/2F) to victory in the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Dash.
Turner, twice a winner of the Silver Saddle, produced Manaccan entering the final furlong and, although her mount edged left in the closing stages, he was well on top at the line to win by three parts of a length. Frankie Dettori picked up his first points of the day on runner-up Judicial (7/1), while Christophe Lemaire got Lampang (6/1) rolling late to grab third.
Great Britain & Ireland lead the way on 41pts, two ahead of the Ladies, with the Rest of the World not far behind on 35pts and Europe on 17pts. Neil Callan (20pts) leads the race for the Alistair Haggis Silver Saddle, with Joanna Mason and Hayley Turner hot on his heels with 15pts.
Turner said: “It is so good to get a winner here. The Ladies have had a good start so far. John Ryan rang me the other day and said he quite fancied Manaccan. It really did go smoothly. I actually rode against and beat this horse in the Holyroodhouse at Royal Ascot. I spoke to Adam Kirby, who rode him that day, and he just gave me a bit of advice.
“It is a stiff five [furlongs] and he’s got gears. The gap was closing a little bit and I was able to wait for it and go round, so he got me out of a little bit of trouble there to be fair. He’s a very competitive horse, he’s maturing. I thought this was my best ride coming into today. It would be great if Emma-Jayne and Nicola could win one as well.”
Winning trainer John Ryan said: “Hayley gave Manaccan an absolutely perfect ride. She got him in the right position, took her time and when it looked like the gap was going to close, which it did, she pre-empted that and moved out to give him plenty of room.
“This is a classy little horse. It’s just taken time to come together and unfortunately a couple of times we’ve run him on ground that’s probably not exactly right for him. This is what he wants – fast ground. He ran a superb race under Adam Kirby here last time and we are absolutely delighted.”
Judicial’s rider Frankie Dettori said: “It was a super run, as he has been out of form for a bit.”
Christophe Lemaire, rider of Lampang, said: “He ran very well. I was close to the winner all the way, and he gradually picked up. He was carrying a lot of weight today. He was very genuine and gave his best.”
Neil Callan said of Ready Freddie Go: “He was very fast out of the gates. I think Hayley cut across me, which could have cost me third. Other than that, it was a good, honest run.”
2.10pm Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Dash
1 Manaccan (LADIES) John Ryan 3-9-10 Hayley Turner 7/2F
2 Judicial (EUR) Julie Camacho 10-10-00 Frankie Dettori 7/1
3 Lampang (ROW) Tim Easterby 5-10-02 Christophe Lemaire 6/1
4 Ready Freddie Go (GB & IRE) 4-9-06 Neil Callan
5 King Of Stars (ROW) Mick Appleby 5-9-11 Takeshi Yokoyama
Team standings after race 3:
GREAT BRITAIN & IRELAND 41
LADIES 39
REST OF THE WORLD 35
EUROPE 17
Individual standings after race 3:
Neil Callan GBI 20
Joanna Mason LADIES 15
Hayley Turner LADIES 15
Takeshi Yokoyama ROW 13
Kieran Shoemark GBI 10
Christophe Lemaire ROW 10
Frankie Dettori EUR 10
Nicola Currie LADIES 9
Jason Collett ROW 7
Jamie Spencer GBI 7
Kerrin McEvoy ROW 5
Daniel Tudhope GBI 4
Antonio Fresu EUR 4
Rene Piechulek EUR 3