Shergar Cup in Ascot

The Shergar Cup, staged today at Ascot, has become a popular fixture in the English calendar and regularly attracts crowds of 20,000+. The format is simple: four teams, each with three jockeys, six races - all very open handicaps with 10 runners and with 30,000 GBP prize-money, with points given to the winning and placed jockeys. But of course they are all normal races and to be bet normally. As far as betting is concerned, they are all very tricky events but a possible betting strategy is to avoid jockeys who are well-known to the British punters - Hughes, Hayley & so, and stick to the more exotic jockeys. Take, Demuro and co are great jockeys, but their names are not so familiar in the U.K. and as a result their mounts may start at longer odds than justified.

The 4 teams are as follows:
England: Paul Hanagan (captain), Hayley Turner, Jim Crowley
Ireland: Richard Hughes (captain), Fran Berry, Colm O´Donoghue
Europe: Olivier Peslier (captain), Christophe Lemaire, Mirco Demuro
Rest of world: Douglas Whyte (captain), Yutaka Take, Hugh Bowman

There are no Germans taking part this year, although both Andrasch Starke and Andreas Suborics have been in the line-up in previous years. The Irish have won the team prize for the past 2 years, but this of coursehas no bearing on today´s results and our very tentative tips are as follows: 13.50 CET: Wannabe King (Demuro), 14.25 CET: La Vecchia Scuola (Bowman), 15.00 CET: Duchess Dora (Berry), 15.30 CET: Swift Alhaarth (Whyte), 16.00 CET: Rock a Doodle Do (Take) and 16.35 CET: Desert Law (O´Donoghue). We have deliberately taken some of the lesser-known (at least in the U.K.) jockeys - but don´t be surprised if Hanagan and Hughes win all the races. Please note: (1.) there are 2 non-runners in the second race, whose places will be taken by the reserves and (2.) jockeys will not be wearing their normal owners colours, but special team colours (which will make life difficult for the course commentator)

Betting forecast:
1. Race: Snow Bay - Sarrsar - Dubai Dynamo
2. Race: Ermyn Lodge - Hawk Mountain - Ile de Re
3. Race: Medicean Man - Duchess Dora - Addictive Dream
4. Race: Ithoughtitwasover - Pivotman - Ivan Vasilevich
5. Race: Rock A Doodle Doo - Zuider Zee - Averroes
6. Race: Firebeam - Desert Law - Kingscroft