It’s mid-summer and Flat racing is in top gear. This weekend the Keeneland Phoenix Stakes takes centre stage at the Curragh, the first two-year-old Group 1 of the year.
The juvenile Group 1, run over 6-furlongs, was won in facile fashion last year by Little Big Bear providing Aidan O’Brien a record 17th victory in the race.
City Of Troy (left) ridden by jockey Ryan Moore on their way to winning the Barronstown Stud Irish European Breeders Fund (C & G) Maiden (Pic – Racing TV)
The Ballydoyle trainer is poised to have a strong hand again with Group 2 winners City Of Troy, River Tiber and Matrika all entered.
Aidan’s son Donnacha O’Brien has entered his Royal Ascot winning filly Porta Fortuna and this daughter of Caravaggio looks the main danger to the Ballydoyle battalion.
There are no Group 1 races in England over the weekend, but racegoers will be on hand to see some of the world’s leading riders in action at Ascot on Saturday afternoon.
This year’s Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup will see four teams of three jockeys competing in six races for the coveted trophy, in addition to the Alistair Haggis Silver Saddle for the leading individual rider.
Frankie Dettori is having his final rides at the team-event race day. He captains a strong European team which includes French ace Olivier Peslier and Kazakh-born Bauyrzhan Murzabayev, stable jockey to legendary French trainer Andre Fabre.
They look to top the standings against Great Britain and Ireland, the Rest of the World, and the Ladies teams.
Dettori said: “The Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup is always a fun event, and I was keen to be involved in my final year riding.”
Great Britain & Ireland will be led by Luke Morris, who won last season’s G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe on Alpinista. Tom Marquand and former Irish champion Declan McDonogh are also part of last year’s winning team.
Hong Kong star Vincent Ho returns as captain of Rest of the World. He is joined by Brazilian sensation Joao Moreira and Kazuo Yokoyama, a multiple G1 winner in his native Japan.
Hayley Turner, the most successful rider in Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup history and twice a winner of the Alistair Haggis Silver Saddle, heads up the Ladies team. Hollie Doyle is set to make her third appearance at the event, fresh from riding three winners at Royal Ascot, while Saffie Osborne makes her debut in the competition.
