Justin Vermaak, Smanga & Steven Jell
‘Bling’ took in the beautiful surroundings near Mike de Kock’s training base with his agent Justin Vermaak and assistant trainer Steven Jell. He is looking forward to pitting his skills against the likes of Richard Hughes, Frankie Dettori, Hayley Turner and Tom Queally – on their home turf this time and in front of British racegoers who have been well informed of the South African sensation and are keen to see him in action.
We’re told that ‘Bling’ is generating massive press and public interest and he spent a busy day in London giving press interviews – he even made the front cover of today’s edition of the Racing Post!
Cover star
Great Britain and Ireland have been made red-hot favourites to land the team spoils after the Shergar Cup draws were announced on Thursday.
Winning Post, official bookmakers to the event, made the Tom Queally-captained English trio 11-8 market leader following Thursday’s declarations. Europe could be backed at 13-8, Rest of the World at 4-1, with the Girls the outsider of the quartet at 13-2.
Points are scored based on finishing position, with the team to have accumulated the highest score across the six-race card declared the winner.
S’manga’s carded mounts, with their trainers and early betting in brackets, are:
Race 1: Shergar Cup Dash, 1000m:
Bondesire (David O’Meara) – 12-1
Race 2: Shergar Cup Stayers: 3200m
Big Thunder (Sir Mark Prescott), 7-1
Race 4: Shergar Cup Mile: 1600m
Tenor (John Ryan), 13-2
Race 5: Shergar Cup Classic: 2000m
Trip To Paris (Ed Dunlop) 11-2
Race 6: Shergar Cup Sprint: 1200m
No Leaf Clover (Ollie Pears) 12-1
A pen pic of the teams and team members are listed below:-
Team Great Britain & Ireland
Tom Queally
Tom Queally (Ireland, Captain)
Born: October 8, 1984, County Waterford.
Background: Son of farmer and trainer Declan Queally and was out hunting on his pony by the age of seven. After a spell show jumping, he became a leading figure on the pony racing circuit by the age of 13. Apprenticed to trainer Pat Flynn at 15, although the apprenticeship was terminated when Queally’s parents insisted he finish his leaving certificate at school. Rode his first winner, Larifaari, at Clonmel on April 13, 2000. Switched to Aidan O’Brien at Ballydoyle at the end of 2002. With the help of former owner/trainer Barney Curley, he moved to Britain in 2004 and joined David Loder’s Newmarket stable. He started riding for Sir Henry Cecil in 2008 and became an integral part of the trainer’s operation and will forever be associated with the unbeaten and unparalleled Frankel, whom he rode to all 14 victories. Following Sir Henry’s death in June, 2013, he decided to turn freelance four months later.
Accolades: Champion Apprentice – Ireland (2000). British Classic Wins (1): QIPCO 2000 Guineas (2011 Frankel).
Other Big Race Wins Include: QIPCO Champion Stakes (2009 & 2010 Twice Over, 2012 Frankel), Dewhurst Stakes (2010 Frankel), Darley July Cup (2009 Fleeting Spirit), Nassau Stakes (2009, 2010 & 2011 Midday), Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (2009 Midday), Coral-Eclipse (2010 Twice Over), Yorkshire Oaks (2010 Midday), Falmouth Stakes (2011 Timepiece), Sussex Stakes (2011 Frankel, 2012 Frankel), Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (2011 Frankel), Juddmonte International (2012 Frankel), 6 Royal Ascot wins including: Diamond Jubilee Stakes (2009 Art Connoisseur), St James’s Palace Stakes (2011 Frankel), Queen Anne Stakes (2012 Frankel).
Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup debut
Jimmy Fortune
Jimmy Fortune (Ireland)
Born: June 14, 1972, Ireland
Background: Jimmy Fortune gained his initial grounding in racing with Jim Bolger in Co Carlow. He then came over to Britain and rode his first winner at Thirsk aboard the Eric Alston-trained Hitchenstown on July 29, 1988. The following year, he won the Ayr Gold Cup on Joveworth, trained by Mike O’Neill, to whom he was apprenticed. In 1990, his 46 victories won him the apprentices’ championship. Having had a spell with Luca Cumani, he then became first rider to David Barron’s stable near Thirsk, for whom he won the 1994 Stewards’ Cup on For The Present and the same race two years later on Coastal Bluff. The departure of Kieren Fallon to become first rider to Henry Cecil saw Fortune take over as stable jockey to Lynda Ramsden in 1997. In the autumn of 1998, he was approached to become retained rider to owner Robert Sangster, and that association yielded its first major success with Commander Collins in the Group One Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster. The retainer came to an end in 2002 but he continued to be linked most strongly with trainer John Gosden and gave him his only Classic success with Lucarno in the 2007 Ladbrokes St Leger, although William Buick was appointed first rider to the by then Newmarket-based handler at the start of 2010. His wife Jan
tragically died in May this year.
Big Race Wins: St Leger (2007 Lucarno), Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (2008 Raven’s Pass), Matron Stakes (2009 Rainbow View), Yorkshire Oaks (2009 Dar Re Mi), Pretty Polly Stakes (2009 Dar Re Mi), Lockinge Stakes (2009 Virtual), Cheveley Park Stakes (2008 Serious Attitude), Middle Park Stakes (2002 Oasis Dream), Sun Chariot Stakes (1999 Lady In Waiting), Meon Valley Stud Fillies’ Mile (2004 Playful Act, 2005 Nannina, 2008 Rainbow View), Sussex Stakes (2006 Court Masterpiece). 15 Royal Ascot wins including Coronation Stakes (2006 Nannina)
Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup: He took part in the 2007 competition and enjoyed a winner.
Previous Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup wins (1): 2007 Our Faye
Richard Hughes
Richard Hughes (Ireland)
Born: January 11, 1973.
Background: Served apprenticeship with father Dessie, a former top-class National Hunt rider who trains in Co Kildare and won the 2004 and 2005 Champion Hurdles at Cheltenham with Hardy Eustace. Had first win on Viking Melody at Fairyhouse on April 6, 1988, a month after his first ride. He moved to Britain in 1994. He was Prince Khalid Abdullah’s retained jockey from 2001 to the end of 2007. He rides regularly for Richard Hannon, to whose sister Lizzie he is married. The 5ft 9in Hughes has, like his father, also ridden winners over jumps but concentrates on the Flat. At Windsor on October 15, 2012, he rode seven winners from a possible eight and became only the second jockey after Frankie Dettori to ride seven winners at a single meeting (Dettori had seven wins from seven rides at Ascot in 1996). Writes a weekly column in Racing Post and his autobiography “A Weight Off My Mind” was published in May, 2012, when he admitted to being a former alcoholic. Banned for 50 days when riding in India in February, 2012, delaying his return to action that year.
Accolades: British champion jockey 2012 & 2013. British Classic Wins (2): QIPCO 1000 Guineas (2013 Sky Lantern), Investec Oaks (2013 Talent). 29 Royal Ascot Wins including Coronation Stakes (2007 Indian Ink, 2013 Sky Lantern), Queen Anne Stakes (2009 Paco Boy, 2011 Canford Cliffs, 2014 Toronado), St James’s Palace Stakes (2010 Canford Cliffs), King’s Stand Stakes (1995 Piccolo, 2014 Sole Power),
Other major wins include: Irish 2,000 Guineas (2010 Canford Cliffs), July Cup (2003 Oasis Dream), Sussex Stakes (2010 Canford Cliffs, 2013 Toronado), Haydock Sprint Cup (2004 Tante Rose), Lockinge Stakes (2010 Paco Boy, 2011 Canford Cliffs), Falmouth Stakes (2010 Music Show), Nassau Stakes (2012 The Fugue), Nunthorpe Stakes (2003 Oasis Dream), Matron Stakes (1998 Tadwiga), Prix du Moulin (2003 Nebraska Tornado), Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud (2008 Youmzain), Prix du Cadran (1998 Invermark), Prix d’Ispahan (2001 Observatory), Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère (2003 American Post, 2012 Olympic Glory), National Stakes (2013 Toormore), Fillies’ Mile (2013 Chriselliam), Sun Chariot Stakes (2013 Sky Lantern), Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (2013 Olympic Glory), Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies’ Turf (2013 Chriselliam). Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup: He has participated six times, winning the Silver Saddle in both 2009 and 2002, as well as gaining seven victories.
Previous Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup wins (7): 2009 Polly’s Mark, We’ll Come, Press The Button; 2002 Bouncing Bowdler, Goldeva, King’s Welcome; 2001 Thundering Surf
Team Europe
Frankie Dettori
Frankie Dettori (Italy, Captain)
Born: December 15, 1970, Milan, Italy
Background: the son of Gianfranco, 13-time champion jockey in Italy. Frankie (christened Lanfranco) Dettori arrived from his homeland to join Luca Cumani’s Newmarket yard as an apprentice in July, 1985. His first success came on Rif at Turin, Italy, on November 16, 1986, and he rode his first British winner on Lizzy Hare at Goodwood on June 9, 1987. He passed 100 winners for the first time in 1990 when recording 141 successes and created history when riding all seven winners on the Saturday at the Ascot Festival in September, 1996. Dettori survived a horrific plane crash at Newmarket in 2000 in which the pilot was killed. He was retained by Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin operation in 1993, but it was announced in September, 2012, that the retainer would not be renewed. It was subsequently revealed he had failed a drugs test whilst riding in France. On December 5, 2012, Dettori was suspended from riding for six months after being found guilty of taking a prohibited substance, believed to be cocaine. He returned from his ban at last year’s Investec Derby Festival (June, 2013) and became retained rider for Sheikh Joaan Al Thani in July, 2013, whose horses run under the Al Shaqab Racing banner. He is married to Catherine and they have five children.
Accolades/achievements: British champion apprentice in 1989 and champion jockey three times (1994, 1995 and 2004). Awarded an honorary MBE in December, 2000. Celebrated his 500th Group race victory on Dabirsim in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagadere at Longchamp on October 2, 2011. He has ridden well in excess of 3,000 winners including over 100 at Group One level. British Classics (14): QIPCO 2000 Guineas (1996 Mark Of Esteem, 1999 Island Sands), QIPCO 1000 Guineas (1998 Cape Verdi, 2002 Kazzia, 2011 Blue Bunting), Investec Derby (2007 Authorized – 15th attempt), Investec Oaks (1994 Balanchine, 1995 Moonshell, 2002 Kazzia), Ladbrokes St Leger (1995 Classic Cliché, 1996 Shantou, 2005 Scorpion, 2006 Sixties Icon, 2008 Conduit) Major wins include: Breeders’ Cup Classic (2008 Raven’s Pass), Dubai World Cup (2000 Dubai Millennium, 2003 Moon Ballad, 2006 Electrocutionist), King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes (1995 Lammtarra, 1998 Swain, 1999 Daylami, 2004 Doyen), Japan Cup (1996 Singspiel, 2002 Falbrav, 2005 Alkaased), Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (1995 Lammtarra, 2001 Sakhee, 2002 Marienbard). 49 Major Royal Ascot wins including: Gold Cup (1992 & 93 Drum Taps, 1998 Kayf Tara, 2004 Papineau, 2012 Colour Vision), St James’s Palace Stakes (1997 Starborough), King’s Stand Stakes (1994 Lochsong), Prince of Wales’s Stakes (2001 Fantastic Light, 2002 Grandera, 2011 Rewilding), Golden Jubilee Stakes (1995 So Factual), Queen Anne Stakes (1990 Markofdistinction, 1997 Allied Forces, 1998 Inktikhab, 2003 Dubai Destination, 2004 Refuse To Bend, 2007 Ramonti) Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup: He has partnered four winners after taking part seven times.
Previous Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup wins (4): 1999 Mythical Girl, Diktat; 2004 Justaquestion; 2007 Strategic Mount
Olivier Peslier
Olivier Peslier (France)
Born: Cossé-le-Vivien on January 12, 1971, the son of a stonemason
Background: Brought up in Mayenne region of France, he started pony riding at a young age. He sprang to prominence in 1996 when winning his first Cravache d’Or (France’s jockeys’ title) with 163 winners, ending the four-year reign of Thierry Jarnet. He took the title thrice more, in 1997 with 154 successes, 1999 (147 wins) and 2000 (162 wins). He soon became an international jockey of renown and has ridden winners at the highest level all around the world. He is most famous for his association with Goldikova, the star French filly, on whom he won 17 times, including 14 at Group One level. British Classic Wins (2): QIPCO 2000 Guineas (2007 Cockney Rebel), Investec Derby (1998 High-Rise) Major wins include: Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (1998 Sagamix, 1997 Peintre Celebre, 1996 Helissio, 2012 Solemia), King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2010 Harbinger), Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (1997 Air Express, 1998 Desert Prince), Dewhurst Stakes (1997 Xaar), Irish 2,000 Guineas (1998 Desert Prince, 1999 Saffron Walden, 2007 Cockney Rebel), Irish Derby (1995 Winged Love), French Derby (1997 Peintre Celebre, 2013 Intello), Breeders’ Cup Mile (2008, 2009 and 2010 Goldikova), Japan Cup (2001 Jungle Pocket, 2004 Zenno Rob Roy). Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (2001 Banks Hill), Man O’ War Stakes (2007 Doctor Dino), Dubai Sheema Classic (2012 Cirrus Des Aigles), Poule d’Essai des Pouliches (2004 Torrestrella, 2011 Golden Lilac), Poule d’Essai des Poulains (2008 Falco) Royal Ascot Wins (14): including Prince Of Wales’s Stakes (2006 Ouija Board, 2009 Vision D’Etat), Queen Anne Stakes (2010 Goldikova), Gold Cup (2005 Westerner), King’s Stand Stakes (1997 Don’t Worry Me, 2008 Equiano), Coronation Stakes (1996 Shake The Yoke, 2001 Banks Hill).
Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup: He participated in both 2010 and 2011, gaining one success.
Previous Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup wins (1): 2010 Gramercy
Adrie de Vries
Adrie de Vries (The Netherlands)
Born: July 27, 1969
Background: international rider who has enjoyed success all over the world in both Thoroughbred and Arabian racing. Born in The Netherlands, he rode his first winner on Go Go at Duindigt racecourse, near Rotterdam, in 1985. He enjoyed a successful partnership with top Dutch trainer Jan Pubben during his time in Holland, partnering over 600 winners and dominating the jockeys’ championship. He moved to Germany after the turn of the century and rode his first Group One winner aboard the Hans-Albert Blume-trained Gyreka in the 2005 Italian Oaks. He was retained by Germany’s leading owner Gestut Schlenderhan between 2009 and May, 2014. He also divides his time between Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE during the winter months when he has done particularly well in Arabian racing. He has ridden five times in Britain, winning at Royal Ascot in 2012 (see below).
Accolades: champion jockey in Holland 12 times. Rode the Jens Hirschberger-trained Energizer to victory in the Group Three Tercentenary Stakes at Royal Ascot 2012, the first German-trained winner at the meeting. Major wins include: Preis Von Europa (2013 Meandre), Rheinland-Pokal (2010 Campanologist), Grosser Preis Von Baden (2009 Getaway), Oaks d’Italia (2005 Gyreka)
Dubai Duty Free Shergar debut
Rest Of The World
Craig Williams
Craig Williams (Australia, Captain)
Born: May 23, 1977 Background: a leading rider in Australia who recorded his first winner in July 1993. No stranger to racing in Britain, as he was based here between 2000 and 2002, when he rode principally for Mick Channon. His first British winner came when Budelli was successful at Lingfield on May 20, 2000. During his stint riding for Channon he enjoyed a brace of Group One triumphs on Toubougg, who captured the Prix de la Salamandre and Dewhurst Stakes in 2000. He has returned to Britain for short spells in 2006, 2012 and again this year. In his homeland, Williams has enjoyed numerous Group One victories including the Cox Plate (2006 Files Of Omagh, 2011 Pinker Pinker), Caulfield Cup (2011 Southern Speed, 2012 Dunaden) and Golden Slipper (2006 Miss Finland). Williams rode Dunaden to victory in the Group Three Geelong Cup in October, 2011, but missed the winning ride on the horse in the Melbourne Cup the following month due to suspension. Has also ridden Group One winners in Dubai, Hong Kong, Japan and New Zealand. He has been riding in Japan mostly this year.
Accolades: won the first of four consecutive Scobie Breasley medals in 2006. The award recognises excellence in race riding at Melbourne racetracks. Also a four-time winner of the Melbourne Jockeys’ Premiership (2005, 2006, 2007, 2009 (tied with Damien Oliver)). Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup: He has taken part twice in 2001 and 2002.
No previous Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup wins
Yuichi Fukunaga
Yuichi Fukunaga (Japan)
Born: December 9, 1976, Shiga Prefecture, Japan
Background: son of one of Japan’s greatest ever jockeys, Yoichi Fukunaga, who was champion for nine consecutive seasons between 1970 and 1978 before suffering a fall in March, 1979 that left him paralysed. Yuichi Fukunaga initially had ambitions of becoming a professional footballer and briefly considered a career as a history teacher before deciding to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a jockey. Attended the Japan Racing Association jockey school and was granted a licence to ride in 1996. Won on both his first two starts as a jockey.
Racing Achievements: JRA Best Newcomer Jockey & Champion Apprentice (53 wins) (1996), JRA Champion Jockey (2011), Rode his 1,500 JRA winner on April 21, 2013. Partnered Cesario to victory in the Ameican Oaks in July, 2005, as the filly became the first Japanese-trained winner of a US Grade One race.
Big Race Wins Include: Oka Sho (Japanese 1,000 Guineas) (1999 Primo Ordine, 2005 Rhein Craft), Hong Kong Mile (2001 Eishin Preston), Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup (2001 & 2003 Eishin Preston), Takamatsunomiya Kinen (2004 Sunningdale), Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) (2004 Daiwa El Cielo, 2005 Cesario, 2007 Robe Decollete), February Stakes (2005 Meisho Bowler), NHK Mile Cup (2005 Rhein Craft), American Oaks (2005 Cesario), Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup (2006 Fusaichi Pandore), Yasuda Kinen (2012 Strong Return), Kikuka Sho (Japanese St Leger) (2013 Epiphaneia), Tenno Sho (Autumn) (2013 Just A Way), Dubai Duty Free (2014 Just A Way).
Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup: This is his second Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup venture after first taking part in 2006.
No previous Dubai Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup wins
Smanga Khumalo
S’manga Khumalo (South Africa)
Born: November 29, 1985, Durban, South Africa
Background: He grew up in the KwaMashu township to the north of Durban. One of five children (three sisters and a brother), Khumalo’s mother was a domestic worker. He had no interest in horseracing until a recruitment officer from the Durban jockey academy visited his school – Mzuvele High School – and suggested that the diminutive teenager should become a jockey. Inspired by the story of Gift Funeka, who was also from KwaMashu and became the first black jockey to ride in the Durban July in 2000, Khumalo joined Durban jockey academy at the age of 14 and spent five years learning how to ride. He spent six months as an apprentice in Zimbabwe, where he enjoyed a first winner on board the Lisa Harris-trained Lightning Dawn at Borrowdale on September 7, 2003. He moved to Johannesburg to become stable apprentice to Alec Laird and also started to ride for Cyril Naidoo, Sean Tarry, Chris Erasmus and Joey Soma. He became the first indigenous African jockey to ride in Australia in 2009, and has also ridden in Kenya and Mauritius. Currently lives in Glenada, Johannesburg. He has the nickname of “Bling”, partly owing to his dyed blonde hair and diamond stud earring.
Racing Achievements: has ridden more than 750 winners, including eight Grade One victories. Became the first black jockey to win the Durban July when partnering Heavy Metal to glory in July, 2013.
Big Race Wins: Horse Chestnut Stakes (2011 Dancewiththedevil), Empress Club Stakes (2011 Dancewiththedevil, 2014 Along Came Polly), Summer Cup (2012 Wagner), President’s Champions Challenger (2013 Heavy Metal), Durban July (2013 Heavy Metal), Golden Slipper (2013 For The Lads), S A Nursery (2014 Carry On Alice).
Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup debut
The Girls
Emma-Jayne Wilson
Emma-Jayne Wilson (Canada, Captain)
Born September 1, 1981, Brampton, Ontario, Canada
Background: Emma-Jayne Wilson is the winning-most female jockey of all-time in Canada (with 1,178 winners in North America as of August 3, 2014 – she has ridden in 8,562 North American races and her mounts have earned $57,245,761). She is only one of two female Canadian jockeys to have ridden over 1,000 winners (after the legendary Francine Villeneuve). Wilson burst onto the North American racing scene in 2005 when landing the riding title at Woodbine, Canada. At its 167-day meet, Wilson partnered 175 winners from 1,096 mounts, becoming the first female to take the title in the racecourse’s 50-year history, and only the third ever apprentice to do so, following Sandy Hawley in 1969 and Mickey Walls in 1991. Wilson started riding at the age of nine and soon had her heart set on becoming a jockey. She studied equine management at the University of Guelph and spent two years riding out at Woodbine Racecourse, where she caught the eye of leading agent Mike Luider. She gained her first winner on only her second ride – a horse called Ali Olah at Fort Erie, on August 28, 2004, and enjoyed an annus mirabilis in her first full season as an apprentice, recording a first Stakes victory on board Classic Stamp in the Grade Two Bell Canadian Stakes to go with her leading jockey title at Woodbine. Her achievements on the racetrack were rewarded with a Sovereign Award for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey (with 146 wins for the year) and an Eclipse Award for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey in North America – becoming only the second woman ever to land the apprentice Eclipse award. Wilson retained her leading jockeys’ title at Woodbine in 2006 with 144 successes and received a second Sovereign Award for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey. She became the first female rider to win the Grade One Queen’s Plate, part of Canada’s Triple Crown, when scoring on board Mike Fox in June, 2007. Wilson competed in the Hong Kong International Jockey Challenge in December, 2007, and was granted a licence to ride in the former colony the following winter. She was out of action for nearly three months following a fall at Woodbine in August 21, 2010, when she suffered a lacerated liver. Wilson made an impressive debut at the Breeders’ Cup in November, 2011, partnering Excaper to finish second behind Wrote in the Grade One Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. Since 2005, she has finished in the top 100 jockeys by earnings each year in North America, 28th in 2005; 31st in 2006; 22nd in 2007; 30th in 2008; 36th in 2009; 61st in 2010; 18th in 2011 with earnings of US$7,157,347; 30th in 2012 and 41st in 2013.
Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup: Wilson, who won the inaugural Pimlico Female Jockey Challenge in June, 2011, is making her third appearance at the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup, having participated in the competition in both 2006 and 2012.
No previous Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup wins
Steffi Hofer
Stefanie (Steffi) Hofer (Germany)
Born: September 7, 1987
Background: the leading female rider in Germany and daughter of two-time champion German trainer and ex-jockey Mario Hofer. Brought up with horses, her first racecourse ride came as an amateur at the age of 16. She had spells in England working for Newmarket handlers Paul D’Arcy and Sir Michael Stoute in 2003 and 2004. Like almost all aspiring professional riders in Germany, she attended the jockey school at Weidenpesch, Cologne. After 59 winners as an amateur, she took out her apprentice licence in October, 2007 and lost her right to claim in July, 2010 following 50 more successes. She has since amassed over 300 career victories. She has ridden twice in Britain without success, most recently when fifth in the Listed Cleves Stakes at Lingfield Park in February, 2010. She is just under five feet tall.
Accolades: Germany’s champion amateur in 2005 and 2007 and also three-time champion apprentice. Became only the second woman to ride in the German Derby when partnering Mi Senor, trained by her father, to finish 12th of 18 in 2011. First female rider to win a Group race in Germany courtesy of Smooth Operator in the Group Three Silberne Peitsche at Munich on May 1, 2012.
Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup debut
Hayley Turner
Hayley Turner (Great Britain)
Born: January 3, 1983, Nottingham
Background: Hayley Turner, the joint champion UK apprentice in 2005, is the most successful female jockey in British racing history. Turner was taught to ride by her mother, a riding instructor. She started riding out for trainer Mark Polglase, who supplied her first winner, Generate, at Pontefract on June 4, 2000. She also attended the Northern Racing College, and then was apprenticed to Michael Bell in Newmarket. She spent 13 years riding for Bell until a split was announced in June, 2013. She has had no luck with injuries subsequently, breaking her left ankle in a Yarmouth fall after crossing the line on July 25 last year. Shortly after making her comeback, she had another fall, this time at Doncaster on September 12, chipped her pelvis and had three fractures in her back. She returned to action in December, 2013. Turner was involved at Carlisle’s all-female jockey evening meeting on August 4, when the professionals took on the amateurs, and notched her 700th career winner with My Meteor in the five-furlong handicap.
Accolades: Turner became the first woman to be crowned champion apprentice when partnering 44 winners during the 2005 Flat (turf) season, sharing the title with Saleem Golam. She also became only the fourth woman in Britain to ride out her apprentice claim, following Emma O’Gorman, Alex Greaves and Lisa Jones. Her success during the 2005 season led to Turner being awarded a Lester for apprentice jockey of the year, the first woman ever to gain that accolade. In 2008, she became the first female jockey to partner 100 winners in a calendar year in Britain. Big-Race Wins: Turner’s first Group One victory came in July, 2011, aboard the David Simcock-trained Dream Ahead in the Darley July Cup at Newmarket and she enjoyed further Group One success when the Bell-trained Margot Did captured the Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes York the following month. She is only the second woman to have ridden a Group One winner in Britain and the first to win one outright as Alex Greaves’ success came when her mount Ya Malak dead-heated with Coastal Bluff for the 1997 Nunthorpe Stakes. In 2012, she enjoyed a Grade One victory on the international stage when the Simcock-trained I’m A Dreamer landed the Beverly D Stakes at Arlington, USA.
Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup: She has ridden at the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup on seven occasions (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012) and captained the GBR team in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Turner has recorded four wins in the innovative competition and was runner-up to Hugh Bowman in the 2007 Silver Saddle Standings.
Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Wins: 2007 Relative Order; 2008 Gee Dee Nen; 2009 Noverre To Go; 2010 Yorgunnabelucky
