Brazil may be the focus of the sporting world for the next few weeks but one Brazilian who continues to make headlines in Europe is Silvestre de Sousa, who led the Rest of the World team to victory in the tenth running of the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup at Ascot.
Champion jockey in Britain last season and once again at the top of the table in 2016, de Sousa was joined by Japanese jockey Kenichi Ikezoe and South Africa's Gavin Lerena, both of whom were having their first taste of Ascot's famous turf course. A red-letter day for Lerena saw him ride Arch Villain (Ire) (Arch) to victory in the Shergar Cup Stayers followed by Danehill Kodiac (Ire) (Kodiac {Ire}) in the Classic, but he had to settle for second place in the individual jockey standings behind Thierry Jarnet, former rider of Treve (Fr) (Motivator {GB}), a member of the Europe team with captain Frankie Dettori and Pierre-Charles Boudot.
“It has been a fantastic day. It is a dream come true,” Lerena said after notching the double. “[Danehill Kodiac] got out of the gates well but they went very quick early so I just had to make my own fractions, but he caught up to them very comfortably and he travelled like a winner the whole way. They said that I only really had one horse with a bit of a chance today but it is beautiful when these days work out like this.”
Intimating that he is keen to ride again in Britain during his short holiday, he added, “We are here for another week, so we are going to head out to Newmarket and visit the Mike de Kock team, Sean Woods and a couple of friends. I am hoping that I might get a couple of rides––that is why we are hanging around––and it would be fantastic if I could maybe get a ride at Newmarket.
“We are out to enjoy it and have a good holiday. It has been a fantastic feeling and great for South Africa.”
Rest of the World finished the competition on 68 points, with Europe on 65, the Girls on 54 and GB & Ireland on 53.
While Jarnet was awarded the Alistair Haggis Silver Saddle for being the leading rider at the Shergar Cup, the prize for ride of the day went to Hayley Turner, who rode her first winner during her brief hiatus from retirement when guiding the Harry Dunlop-trained Early Morning (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) to glory in the Shergar Cup Mile.
“It's so nice to do it here, it's so special and I am thrilled,” said Turner, who was joined on the Girls' team by Shergar Cup regular Emma-Jayne Wilson and Britain's leading apprentice Josephine Gordon.
She continued, “Coming back for this was the easiest decision ever – I have kept fit enough for vain reasons as much as anything else but I just stepped it up a little bit. It's such a pleasure to be here.
“I think my celebrations showed how much it meant to me––I nearly fell off the horse as I was waving and blowing kisses to everyone! I've had to work really hard to get back. I've not been able to get fit race-riding so I've had to spend a lot of time in the gym.”
Despite not riding a winner himself on the day, Silvestre de Sousa was the delighted with the effort of his truly international team and reflected on their success, saying “I've really enjoyed the day. It's something a bit different and was a big team effort. We had some great riders on our team and it's great to win. I'd met Gavin before today but I hadn't met Kenichi before. Gavin is a brilliant rider and he has showed that this afternoon with two good winners. I'd definitely like to ride in the Shergar Cup again – it's good fun.”
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