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The Shergar Cup - featuring 10-runner handicaps which are split by distance and age group - doesn’t appeal to everyone, as the three-year-olds don’t get the chance to take on their older rivals in five of the six races on the card. However, there are several strong punting opportunities nonetheless, especially if we can identify which trainers flourish at a meeting where a horse can be ridden not by their usual partner, but by any one of 12 jockeys from around the world. The table below shows the best Run to Form record of trainers who have had more than one runner at the Shergar Cup since 2012.
Robert Cowell – Record in the race (since 2010, most recent on the left, bold for same race): 1 5 6 1 1 7
Robert Cowell has saddled six runners in this 5f sprint in the last seven years, and has won it three times (Prohibit 2010, Goldream 2014, Secretinthepark 2015). As the graph below illustrates, Cowell does exceedingly well with his older sprinters - all of his winners were aged five, and two of the three went on to win at the very top level - and he has two likely candidates in this year's race in the form of Sir Robert Cheval and Green Door. Sir Robert Cheval has been given a two month break since disappointing in France, but a repeat of his handicap win at Newbury in April would make him a major contender, while fellow six-year-old Green Door stripped fitter for his reappearance when third at Goodwood last week and looks to be getting back to his best.
Ian Williams – Record in the race: 1 1 3
Sir Mark Prescott has saddled two horses to finish second in this 2m staying contest, however it is another shrewd trainer, Ian Williams, who has dominated the race. The dual-purpose trainer, who unsurprisingly does well with his stayers (see graph blow), has saddled just three horses, winning it twice (Address Unknown 2012, Ile de Re 2011) and having the third home on the other occasion. Byron Flyer recorded four wins over hurdles last season, including an early-season hat-trick, and he still looks to be on a fair mark despite finishing runner-up on his two most recent Flat starts. He's taken a step forward on each occasion and remains at the top of his game.
Race 3 – Shergar Cup Challenge
Older horses (six-year-olds+) - Record in the race: 10 9 7 6 5 10 4 9 6 8 7 3 2 9 8 3 9 6
With a record of no wins and just three places from 18 attempts since 2010, horses aged six or older have really struggled in this 1½m handicap. Those hoping to break the hoodoo this year include Kapstadt, who seemed undone by a rise in the weights when seventh in the Old Newton Cup last month, and Great Hall, a well-handicapped seven-year-old who won’t mind the step back up in trip. Plutocracy, Jacob Cats, Oasis Fantasy and Farquhar make up the rest of the equine Dad’s Army.
Four-year-olds - Record in the race: 6 4 1 2 1 9 7 3 2 10 9 8 5 4 2 1 9 4 2 9 7 5 1
Despite having no representative 12 months ago, four-year-olds have won four of the last seven renewals of this 1m contest (as well as filling five places), which is impressive considering the age group has only made up a third of the total runners over the same period. Manson and Medburn Dream carry the baton this year; the former comes into the race on the back of a creditable return from four months off at Sandown last month, and is edging back down to a workable mark, while Medburn Dream was in good heart prior to his Goodwood flop last week and conditions that day make his run easy to forgive – he’s the type to bounce back quickly.
Favourites – Record in the race: 10 2 1 10 9 8 4
The 2012 winner Sun Central, trained by Wiliam Haggas and ridden by James Doyle, was the last favourite to win this 1½m three-year-old handicap, but since then supporters of the market leaders have had very little to cheer, as the graph below shows.
Contango, winner of his three starts to date, will bid to change that pattern. Closely related to the very smart 7f-1m winner Ventura, he won a maiden at Leicester and a handicap at Chester, both in June, and had a simple task when completing his hat-trick in a three-runner handicap at Newmarket last time by 11 lengths from Ray's The Money. He remains with potential and looks the horse to beat for a trainer (Andrew Balding) who does well at this meeting.
Newmarket trainers – 1 7 5 3 4 2 9 8 5 4 2 4 2 8 4
A 6f sprint for three-year-olds, this race has eluded Newmarket trainers since Michael Bell saddled Gramercy to win in 2010. That may come as no huge surprise, considering the July Course stages a card on the same afternoon which may attract the town’s better horses, however the win strike-rate of Newmarket-based horses is still noticeably poor considering they have made up 21% of the race’s total runners over the last seven years. This year's crop numbers just one: Nobly Born. The John Gosden-trained colt is a half-brother to several winners, including very smart 7f-1m winner Peeress, and he improved again when a half-length fourth to The Feathered Nest at Newmarket last time, upsides until the final 100 yards.
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