Europe bagged its first winner of the 2025 Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup as 7/4F Tenability overcame trouble in running in the 12-furlong Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Classic.
Ridden by France’s all-time leading female jockey Delphine Santiago, Tenability was locked in behind a wall of horses early in the straight but, once the gap opened on the rail, the son of Frankel got rolling to beat Team Player and Dario Di Tocco by a neck. There was a further neck back to Great Britain & Ireland contender Prince Of The Seas (10/1) and Robbie Dolan.
Santiago, making her debut at the meeting, has received the Cravache d’Or for leading woman rider in France on 11 occasions.
She said: “It was very nice because I really wanted to win for the gentleman [William Haggas]. The last race we finished fifth and I love the sprint. I won a lot of races like that in France but now I’ve one won over one mile, two furlongs. Yes, it is my 50th [winner of the season].”
Winning assistant trainer Maureen Haggas said: “Yvonne [Jacques, winning owner] speaks French well and we said ideally how we’d like the horse to be ridden. Yvonne relayed that to Delphine and we just about got away with it.
“It’s a great experience for the jockeys. I think there are some very good riders here, but there are some riders that are inexperienced in this country, or inexperienced internationally. It is good money, so it attracts nice horses and this horse, for instance, is a very nice, young, progressive horse.”
Dario Di Tocco, rider of runner-up Team Player, said: “I thought I was going to win but the French rider, who was boxed in, found the gap and was flying. I tried not to make the group come out too much, but she still found the gap. It was a great ride to get. I have been close twice now and just need a bit of luck.’’
Robbie Dolan, rider of third Prince Of The Seas, said: ‘‘He had a crack. That is his best run for a long time. Connections are very happy. I felt I was going to win, but he just had a bit of dead weight on his back and probably felt it in the last 100m.’’