Meet the teams: we profile the 12 riders taking part in Saturday's Shergar Cup

The 23rd running of the Shergar Cup takes place at Ascot on Saturday and this year sees a change in jockey participation.

For the first time, there will be an equal representation of males and females across the four teams for the the yearly team-based competition.

With this in mind, here is all you need to know about the 12 jockeys taking part in 2024 Shergar Cup.

Europe

When the Shergar Cup first moved to Ascot in 2000 after a one-year stint at Goodwood, Team Europe, captained by Pat Eddery, convincingly beat the Rest of the World.

Since then, Europe has won three more Shergar Cups, although they have been winless since Frankie Dettori captained them to success in 2014.

This year, Bauyrzhan Murzabayev will lead Jose-Luis Borrego and Alberto Sanna, all of whom are making their Shergar Cup debut.

Bauyrzhan Murzabayev (captain)

The four-time German Flat champion jockey makes his Shergar Cup debut this year fresh from riding Geography to success in Sunday's Group 3 Fritz Henkel-Pries at Dusseldorf.

Born in Kazakhstan, Bauyrzhan Murzabayev is also a four-time Classic-winning rider. His first came in 2016 when he won the Czech Derby, while he also has a German Derby and German St Leger to his name and he also won the 2022 Italian Oaks.

The 31-year-old has ridden in Britain on two occasions, once at Ascot and once at Doncaster.

Jose-Luis Borrego

Making his debut in Britain, Jose-Luis Borrego has won the 2,000 Guineas in Spain on two occasions as well as the Spanish Derby and St Leger.

Having ridden in his first race at 14, the 46-year-old became Spain's champion apprentice in 1995 at the age of just 18.

Alberto Sanna

Like Borrego, Alberto Sanna was a champion apprentice in his native Italy and he has been based in the Middle East since 2012. Since moving there, he has become champion jockey in both Bahrain and Qatar, while he also won the Italian 2,000 Guineas in both 2021 and 2022.

The 39-year-old is a three-time winner of Qatar's most prestigious thoroughbred race, the H. H. The Amir Trophy, most recently with the three-time Group 1 winner Russian Emperor, trained by Douglas Whyte.

Ladies

Since forming in 2012, the Ladies team have succeeded four times, including in three of the last five years.

Following their latest success 12 months ago, Marie Velon, a Shergar Cup debutante, comes in for Hollie Doyle, while Joanna Mason replaces Saffie Osborne.

Hayley Turner (c)

The winning-most rider in the history of the Shergar Cup, Hayley Turner returns for a 17th appearance as captain of the Ladies team. During that time, the 41-year-old has accumulated 322 points, nine race victories and the Alistair Haggis Silver Saddle on two occasions (2018 and 2019).

Turner became the first female rider to win a British Group 1 in 2011 as she guided home Dream Ahead to land the July Cup. She has won two more Group 1s since.

Marie Velon

Much like Turner, Marie Velon was the first female jockey to win a Group 1 in France when she landed the 2022 Prix Royal-Oak on Iresine.

That success is one of 14 victories the pair have achieved together, a list that includes the 2023 Group 1 Prix Ganay, 2022 Group 2 Prix Foy and 2023 Group 2 Prix du Conseil de Paris.

Saturday's appearance in the Shergar Cup marks Velon's first time riding in Britain.

Joanna Mason

Although Saffie Osborne was initially set to complete the Ladies team, Joanna Mason was announced as her replacement on Tuesday as Osborne has other riding commitments.

Mason has some big shoes to fill as Osborne tied with Matthew Chadwick for second in last year's Silver Saddle competition. However, on her sole appearance in the Shergar Cup, she secured victory in her first race aboard the William Haggas-trained Amanzoe.

Rest of the World

The Rest of the World will feature a full team of female jockeys for the first time this year, two of whom are Shergar Cup debutantes.

With seven victories, they are the most successful team in the Shergar Cup and have been captained to success by Frankie Dettori on three occasions.

Their first success came in 2001 and their most recent occurred in 2019.

Rachel King (c)

Making her first appearance, Australian-based Rachel King captains the team.

Born in Britain, she was an amateur with Alan King before moving to Australia in 2014, a change that saw her become Sydney's champion apprentice in 2016-17.

From her 600-plus victories, she has won five Group 1s and rode Oversubscribed to success in the first leg of the 2023 International Jockeys' Championship at Happy Valley.

Rachel Venniker

Crowned South Africa's champion apprentice in 2021-22, Rachel Venniker is South Africa's only professional female jockey.

This year she became the first woman to ride in the Durban July, a prestigious Grade 1 handicap at Greyville, and at 22 she will now make her Shergar Cup and Ascot debut.

Nanako Fujita

Nanako Jujita is the only member of this year's Rest of the World team who has Shergar Cup experience, having been part of Ladies team in 2019.

Having been granted a licence from the Japan Racing Association (JRA) in 2016, Fujita is her nation's most successful female rider.

Three years later, she became the first female JRA jockey to compete in a Grade 1, the February Stakes, and later in 2019 she was the first female rider to win a Graded race in Japan, when guiding Copano Kicking to success in the Capella Stakes.

Great Britain and Ireland

The final team in this year's Shergar Cup is Great Britain and Ireland, spearheaded by Tadhg O'Shea.

Having first won the competition in 2002 – a year that saw Kieren Fallon captain the team and Richard Hughes win the Silver Saddle – they have taken the title four times.

Between 2007 and 2011, Ireland and Great Britain were two separate teams, but they merged back in 2012, when the Ladies team and Europe were brought in.

Tadhg O'Shea (c)

With two Shergar Cup appearances to his name, O'Shea has yet to record a race win in the competition which he first took part in 2019 when, like this year, he captained Great Britain and Ireland as part of a trio including Danny Tudhope and Jamie Spencer.

O'Shea is a 12-time champion jockey in the UAE and he returned to riding in Britain with a winner at Lingfield on Monday.

Seamie Heffernan

At 52, Seamie Heffernan is the oldest jockey in this year's line-up, although he is still relatively inexperienced in this sphere with just one Shergar Cup appearance to his name.

That occurred in 2009 when his 23 points helped Team Ireland, captained by Richard Hughes, to the first of three Shergar Cup wins.

Best known for his association with Aidan O'Brien, which ended in March, Heffernan has ridden the likes of Paddington, Galileo and Churchill to success during his career.

Billy Loughnane

Last season's British champion apprentice Billy Loughnane completes the Great Britain and Ireland team.

Since bursting on to the scene in 2022, Loughnane has ridden 230 winners in Britain, two of which came at Royal Ascot earlier in the summer.

At 18, he is the youngest participant in this year's line-up in what is his Shergar Cup debut.

Read more...

Joanna Mason replaces Saffie Osborne as Shergar Cup riders are announced 

Tadhg O’Shea rides first UK winner in ten months before he captains Great Britain and Ireland in Shergar Cup 

Changes made to Shergar Cup to have even split between male and female jockeys 

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