Essential insights into the upcoming 2025 Shergar Cup competition
The 2025 Shergar Cup: A Team-Based Horseracing Event
The 2025 Shergar Cup, a yearly horseracing event, will take place on Saturday, August 9 at Ascot. This exciting competition brings together four teams of three jockeys each, aiming to claim the championship title. The teams are Team Asia, Team Great Britain, Team Ireland, and Team Rest of the World.
Each jockey will ride five races, contributing to their team's total points based on their race finishes. Points are awarded 15 for first place, 10 for second, 7 for third, 5 for fourth, and 3 for fifth. If needed, reserves can substitute for the competing jockeys.
Team Asia, led by captain Suraj Narredu, emerged as champions in 2025. All members of the Asia team are making their Shergar Cup debut, including Mirai Iwata.
Team Rest of the World includes notable Hong Kong-based jockeys Hugh Bowman and Karis Teetan. Bowman, the partner of the mighty Winx, has two appearances at the Shergar Cup. Teetan, a leading jockey based in Hong Kong, is making his Shergar Cup debut.
Jockeys from Great Britain and Ireland also form part of the other teams, although specific individual members were not detailed in the available information. Notably, Britain's most successful female jockey, Hollie Doyle, is making her second appearance at the Shergar Cup.
The individual jockey performance in the Shergar Cup is ranked based on the points they earn from their rides. The leading individual jockey wins the Alistair Haggis Silver Saddle, awarded to the top-scoring rider in the competition. In case of ties for team or individual awards, a countback system is used based on the number of wins, then second places, third places, etc.
In 2025, Hugh Bowman won the Silver Saddle thanks to multiple placings, including a win in the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Dash. This 5f race for 3yo+ horses, Class 2, is the first race of the Shergar Cup.
The 2025 Shergar Cup also features the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Classic Handicap, a 1m4f race for 3yo horses, Class 3.
The event consists of six races in total, and the winning team is crowned champion at the end of the day.
Notable absentees from the 2025 Shergar Cup are the Ladies team, which has been replaced by the Asia team.
Other notable participants include Katie Davis, an American jockey making her Shergar Cup debut and having notched almost 350 wins since her first success in early 2014. Robbie Dolan, an Irish jockey who moved to Australia in 2016, is also making his Shergar Cup debut.
Besides the team and individual competitions, the jockeys will wear their team's specific colours during the races. Joanna Mason, a British jockey with two appearances at the Shergar Cup and having managed to hit 100 career wins by June 2022, is one of the many jockeys who will be sporting their team colours.
As the day unfolds, the 12 jockeys will compete fiercely, aiming to contribute points to their teams while also vying for the Alistair Haggis Silver Saddle. The 2025 Shergar Cup promises to be an exciting event, filled with suspense and nail-biting finishes.
Sports enthusiasts eagerly await the annual team-based horseracing event, the 2025 Shergar Cup, as it showcases various sports, like racing, as well as teamwork and camaraderie. During the competition, racecards like the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Dash and the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Classic Handicap are hotly contested, with each race contributing to both the team standings and the individual jockeys' chances of winning the Alistair Haggis Silver Saddle.
