Shergar Cup and Racing League do punters care about the teams ?

The only people who like it are the ones who instigated it.

Everyone else just wants to back a winner.

although my preferred bets are ew multiples and there are several opportunities at racing league, I've not bet a single race in protest at this silly team concept, sooner they give it up and divert the money to something useful the better but the person(s) behind it are convinced they're on the right track

I am with you on that Gordon, never backed in either and do not watch them. Same goes for The Hundred in cricket but If it pulls in the crowds and puts money back into the sport then ok but it can pass me by.

Only UK based jockey riding in Shergar Cup - Hollie Doyle

No, for me they can get rid of both the Racing League and the Shergar Cup, both non betting propositions and a total waste of time.

barstool free tickets have been given away in there thousands for these meetings so pulls in crowds =BS

ITS BS

Now one thing that did work was that Good Friday All Weather Championship Final

All Weather Championship worked - come on!! ARC were given permission to have racing on Good Friday (previously a no racing day) because they 'promised'  £1 million prize money, of course the BHA and 'elite' were delighted and the 'workers' in the Industry (bookies shops, stable staff, transport, course staff at Lingfield etc) were expected to kowtow (I don't imagine any of the £1 million went to them as compensation - after all the Reubens didn't get obscenely rich by throwing money at the workforce!) - now of course AW Champions day has switched to Newcastle, prize money significantly watered down (oh yes because of covid) and BHA swallowed the whole story hook line and sinker and opened up Good Friday for even more courses with associated knock on effects for the industry labour.  Personally I'd like to see all the ARC tracks 'nationalised' (and some closed) as their facilities and prize money are simply unacceptable to most - oh perhaps they fill a hole in bookmakers schedules between virtual motor racing and the 4746th lotto game that day but I'd wager that the overall impact on UK racing would be positive.

Speaking of nationalisation that old clown Brown is touting that raising taxes on gambling (although he apparently didn't specifically mention racing %) would allow Westminster to abolish the 2 child benefit cap, considering this man sold off UK gold reserves at a woefully undervalued price in order to finance 'new labour', I wouldn't take any notice of what he's saying - lets see with triple lock Reeves has to say

like most on here have no interest in fabricated teams
individual jockeys & trainers yes but not teams

The Shagger Cup is a no go area for me as well as being on the awful ATR Channel

Shergar Cup is the most difficult meeting of the whole year for me. Horses being ridden tactically by jockeys who have never ever sat on them before, let alone ridden them. Always a few jockeys making their ascot debut too. Oh and all six races are tight handicaps.

I don't even bother watching, let alone betting. A total waste of an Ascot saturday.

It's decent money and competitive but I can't get by the horses wearing different colours, never mind the team aspect.

Aug 7, 2025 -- 2:15PM, Gordon63 wrote:

All Weather Championship worked - come on!! ARC were given permission to have racing on Good Friday (previously a no racing day) because they 'promised'

Well the beauty of horse racing in the uk is the variety and thankfully with 3 excellent cards at Brighton sandown and Nottingham nobody needs to bother with Chepstow.

graphics obscuring horses...christ on a bike

shergar cup used to be profitable when they let the ladies win. 

haven't watched it recently so don't know if they still do that.

2 jokers being played in the 8.00?

Racing never has and,never will be, a team sport.

2 jokers being played in the 8.00?

not been watching, does Eddie Waring still do the Marathon ?

Before my time

Some of the best Jockeys on the planet have ridden in The Shergar Cup and i enjoy it although i dont know if they are so keen nowadays....I have never watched or had a bet on The Racing Leauge it does not appeal to me one bit.

best Jockeys on the planet riding something Jim Goldies got lined up for a race at Ayr 9 weeks down the line ....

worst part is shouty man and co adapting comms as though their commentaing on man utd v l,pool,
team this, team that, points totals before races etc, NO ONE GIVES A FOOK,and its switched off by 99% of viewers as they past the post in last race

jamie osbourne has giving more free [ at least i hope its free ] to the pro smoking lobby thans been seen on tv in total for more than 20 yrs

Makes Eddie and Stuart look good .......and thats not easy .

It strikes me as a juvenile concept, reminiscent of schooldays when we had House teams, if that isn't before your time. Us kids never took much notice either, but I suppose it gives some jockeys a chance of greater recognition away from their usual sphere. That would be my only interest.

Good opportunity to run one and get a drop in OR for a tilt later in the season when stable jockey back on board

These are for mugs only. Why do you think they are ALL handicaps.

The over rounds will be massive as many savvy punters will be put off by jockey experience and different race tactics in UK etc

Just Joanna Mason and Hollie Doyle from the UK.

Tickets available at £50,£60 & £70.

Please form an orderly queue at the gate.

Nah!!!!!

Celtic warrior - spot on.

Balding and haggas sent horses,

Coolmore,godophin,wattana and some big trainers ,nothing.

But they re happy to be seen and interviewed at royal ascot.

They could of at least entered 1 each ,some of their horses run for less money,plus they may well use some of these jockeys abroad,so it’s hardly the worst use of 1 horse.

Then you could end up with a crap jockey CUTH

All meant to be decent ones from around the world.,but that’s not the point,could send 1 horse to support the day,given how much they get out of ascot.

That assumes that you support this event and they clearly don't
I detest it and never watch it

I don’t support it,but it’s on,I d rather it not be on,but if it is,then racing should support it.

It’s been going a few years now,so dosent look like stopping.

The concept of racing being a team sport is fundamentally flawed,imo

The presenters are doing their best to 'big it up' and in the process are showing what sycophants

they are. They are never prepared to criticise any aspect of racing's presentation.

It’s a one off different day,in between festivals,it’s harmless,a bit of fun.

What's with the velcro golf malarkey.
Embarrassing

Mrs Haggas is not happy about some of the rides her horses have been given. She said the horses were prepped for a run; the races were worth a lot of money. However, she's not pointing fingers just letting it be known the standard of the jockeys could be better.

"Suraj Narredu, the rider of ROSARIO (IRE), drawn 12, was slow to remove the blindfold resulting in his horse being slow to start. After being interviewed and shown recordings of the incident, Narredu explained that he was slow to remove the blind as he is used to the process of a Stalls Handler removing the blind when riding in India; his explanation was noted."

Ascot must be feelingthe pinch and got this bunch on the cheap ffs......I thought wtf as i soon as i seen this bunch of nomarks.

Only one that i would give creedence to is probaly Bowman the rest are second rate including Doyle and Mason.

Did anyone on here go yesterday ?

for those that agree with haggis,are they and haggis saying that hollie doyle is absolute **** and shouldnt be allowed anywhere near the shegar cup because those garbage foreighn jocks,rode hollie to sleep yesterday

Its at least 90% the horse

so hollies horses wernt good enough but all the horses ridden by according to HAGGIS RUBBISH FOREIGN jocks were good enough ?

so in 6 races, haggis has decided  jocks she,s never seen ride before wernt good enough but the horse were, but if you/i watch a uk jock ride a 1000 races say he,s rubbish,the horses wernt good enough and we,re £2 pocket talkers

The haggis yard have had an awful lot of short ones beat this season not heard any comments from Mrs haggis about those.

For as long as I can remember the racing press and many of the racing establishment have found it easy to criticise overseas jockeys,a form of bullying I suppose.

I never watch or bet on this ridiculous event but,have just watched the replay of the winning Haggas horse.
Absolutely blessed to get a run up the rails and was hardly power packed in the finish, Mrs Haggas was spot on

i,m old enough to remember[ last month] her no 1 ride maq riding 60 odd blue blood horses and getting 2 winners, i,d bet good/decent anyone riding yesterday.riding those same 60 odd horses would have got at least 2 winner,s,and if you, asked a bookie the odds for riding 2 or more,i,d wager even more money it would have been no offers or 1.01

one of the uk apprentices of the moment got beat on vintage clarets at 1.01 after going a length up inside final furlong ,they said it hit fron t 2 early,bowmen hit front 2 out on wide open spaces of ascot with stiff finish and was further in front at the line

All the same it was a bit harsh of Mrs Haggis to stick the boot in....I never thought she was like that.

They cant all be gifted like her auld man.

I don't think that she was expecting Lester,Acey

I've no interest in the Shergar competition but once a year to try bring new people in should be worth continuing. As for the jockey bashing, surely the good prize money means you have to take a chance on the jockey draw.

hang on a min...how many times do we see 'top jocks' riding horses in races they have never sat on?..bit harsh to critisize some guy from india or japn or wherever. dont see many stones thrown at home do we

One thing it does prove is that the jockey critics on here would not actually recognise one if bitten on the backside by a Brit or an Indian? I remember Big Mac being highly critical of Yutaka Take, he didn't do so bad across the world did he?

British racing can no longer rely on its history and prestige. The 2026 fixture list provides evidence that the sport's leaders are fully aware financial investment is required if Britain's top races are to continue to attract the world's top horses. Events at Ascot on Saturday suggested attracting the world's top jockeys has also become an issue.

The sport as a whole will benefit if its upper tiers can be strengthened, which is why pumping money into those tiers is not simply a case of channelling funds towards racing's richest players.

For Britain to compete on the global stage, crown jewels like the King George, International, Sussex Stakes and July Cup must offer purses that make them credible options relative to comparable targets in more affluent jurisdictions. The announcement all four of those features are to be considerably more valuable next year – with the King George becoming Britain's first £2 million race – will boost their standing at home and abroad. Encouragingly, that is only one of the moves that should begin to make a positive difference in 2026.

When something is said often enough, it can turn into a perceived truth, even when there is little substance to the statement. All too regularly people who should know better have claimed British Flat prize-money has been consistently and comprehensively inferior to that offered in Ireland and France. For high-quality horses that has absolutely not been the case. Indeed, the decision to increase minimum values for Group and Listed contests will take Britain ever further clear of its two nearest neighbours.

Calandagan (right) and Kalpana fight out the finish to the King George
Next year's King George will be run for £2 million
Credit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)
Where Britain has undoubtedly trailed Ireland and France is in the developmental sphere. Action has been taken to correct that, with £3.2m (including £2.5m from the Levy Board) set to be pumped into races designed to serve as launchpads for future stars. Novice and maiden races on the Flat and over jumps will be much more valuable in 2026. That represents a significant step forward, one that should enable those promoting British racing to do so with an increasingly confident voice.

Yet no nation, nor indeed any sport, can offer the cream of its product week in, week out, which is why it was paradoxical and misleading to promote more than 160 British fixtures as Premier racedays. Pleasingly, next year's Premier roster has been reduced to 52. Among those meetings to have been cut loose are those that were staged at Ascot and Haydock on Saturday. The Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup has never needed Premier branding. That does not, however, mean it is in rude health.

As a committed supporter and annual attendee, I thought this year's Shergar Cup was, in some respects, one of the best I can remember.

The razzmatazz that precedes the start of racing and then runs through the afternoon was certainly strengthened by the involvement of Andy Collins as master of ceremonies, while DJ Tony Perry helped to create an excellent atmosphere from early in the day. The buzz in the crowd was maintained over the following hours, during which the grandstands regularly erupted with noise. Even so, for what is to all intents and purposes a bit of harmless fun, this was a Shergar Cup that raised serious talking points.

The first was advanced by trainer Ian Williams, who used the word "shameful" when criticising his fellow trainers for failing to ensure handicaps worth £80,000 had full fields. Conversations around that subject triggered repeated mentions of the Racing League, which has drawn horses away from the Shergar Cup without ever achieving the public interest it promised.

The intervention that made the biggest headlines came after the victory of the William Haggas-trained Tenability under France's all-time leading female jockey Delphine Santiago, who at the age of 46 was riding in Britain for the first time. Haggas's wife Maureen described the overall standard of rider taking part at Ascot as "noticeably lower than usual", adding that "one or two" of the jockeys should not have been invited. In addition, she queried the wisdom of axing the Ladies team that had previously garnered considerable support among racegoers.

This year's Shergar Cup line-up probably did lack some of the star quality associated with previous stagings. That said, Hugh Bowman, who collected the Silver Saddle and its £3,000 prize, has long been established as one of the world's most famous jockeys, while India's Suraj Narredu executed a marvellous winning ride on Fireblade and was then at the centre of celebrations that surely delighted all who saw them.

Suraj Narredu won Ride of the Day
Suraj Narredu was arguably the star of the show at Ascot on Saturday
Credit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)
Narredu described passing the post in front at Ascot as the finest moment of his career, while Bowman stressed that simply competing at the world's most prestigious racing venue was an honour. For others in their profession, that honour may no longer be enough.

Unlike some international jockey competitions, Ascot does not pay a fee to those taking part in the Shergar Cup. The 12 riders are given business class air travel for two people and a four-night stay at the five-star Pennyhill Park Hotel. That is no longer sufficiently tempting for all the world's elite jockeys, although it was still disappointing that, having accepted Ascot's hospitality, Japanese riders Ryusei Sakai and Mirai Iwata at times failed to fully engage with some of the promotional obligations that surround the event.

Perhaps most worryingly, the Shergar Cup's numbers are slipping. Between 2008 and 2018, attendances ranged between 28,000 and 33,000. Across the last three years, the crowd total has steadily dropped, from roughly 24,000 in 2023 to Saturday's 18,000.

Whether that is connected to the racing or the concert that follows it, the trend is one Ascot will surely seek to reverse. The Shergar Cup has become a special part of the racing calendar and an enjoyable change from the norm. However, like the showpiece races held at Ascot and elsewhere in Britain, the pulling power of its history and prestige may have diminished.

Mottershead -RP

Whether that is connected to the racing or the concert that follows it, the trend is one Ascot will surely seek to reverse

connected to charging £60/70 to get in. 

can get a ticket for Arc Garden's at Longchamp on Arc Sunday for £8.66 (€10).

The positive story last week about 5 mill injection to prize money,was just that,a positive story.

Half a mill is going to king George,

If they raise prize money for class 5/6, it will just encourage more class 5/6 races.

If 25% less foals born,that isn’t bad for next year,that’s for next 5 years.

There isn’t the horse population to fill the fixture list.

Arc and arena,need to sell the worst tracks for housing estates,lose the fixtures,to make racing leaner and better.

The media rights will probably force this,most tracks don’t need a crowd,they just make it pay from media rights,so it’s the bookies fault,but they might want these fixtures,they did when fobts mattered,but maybe not now.

Ownership isn’t a problem,there’s that many races of 4/5 runners,you can win enough to cover costs,every horse will get its wins.keeps everyone employed,so on it goes.

the extra tax is a red herring,tax is paid on profits,so why should racing get a cheaper rate,plumbers employ people so why should racing pay less tax.

All these people speaking out to stop the tax,are basically saying,let’s protect share prices,ceo s pay and bonus.
All fixed costs are covered before tax,so no jobs need to be lost.as their pay is before this new tax kicks in.

If a company needs 200 employees to operate,to make 10 million profit,the tax increase will reduce that profit to 9 million.
But to make the 9 million,they still need 200 employees,so they can’t reduce that.

Basically,tax is the cherry on the cake,the cake is free and covered,they’re arguing over the amount of cherry slices they want.the cake is unaffected.

If you cut costs,you can’t make a cake,so therefore there’s no cherry to argue over.

Gosden who pays the full tax,arguing on behalf of bookies to pay lower tax,why.

Bookies say less money back into racing,but money into racing is within  the cake,they won’t reduce the cake mix,cos no tax is paid on that,they just want to protect the cherry for themselves.

if ascot are worried about shergar cup attendance its
33 to 1 they,ll try to attract better horses.jocks,lower prices
and
1,01 ,that they try to attract a more popular band for after racing concert
come racing ,i mean gigging

I think a better quality of jockeys for the Shergar Cup is a plus for the event. I'd also like to see a better quality of jockeys plus professionalism and consistency eg jockeys riding with a Plan B; consciously and professionally conscious of pace and situation arising; etc.

In a nutshell jockeys riding with a thinking cap on, and not "the blind leading the blind" mentality esp in Group races.

I always thought The Jockeys got a hefty appearance fee....Apparanntly not so i can see why the Greats are not interested anymore.

dicke hern stakes
lan oaks
sweet solera
phoneix stakes
big race in usa night before 
ascot picking whats left of jocks after all of above are jocked up

My instinct is to defend the Shergar Cup, an event I've found to be broadly enjoyable over the years, even as it has attracted occasional jeers from people who were never going to watch it anyway. I felt that instinct kick in when I read of Maureen Haggas's criticism of the standard of jockeyship at Ascot on Saturday – "noticeably lower than usual," she said.

Much as I'd like to argue the point, I'm afraid there were quite a few basic errors and we saw some odd-looking behaviour in the saddle. It's easy to see why a trainer would feel something bordering on exasperation, though that might also have been true after some previous Shergar Cups.

It's appropriate to make allowances. These riders are far from home, surrounded by strangers, in some cases dealing with a language barrier, trying to steer unfamiliar animals round an unfamiliar course while competing with unfamiliar rivals under unfamiliar rules. How many of us could perform to our best in those circumstances?

Certain old pros sail through unruffled but most of us would be one bit of bad luck away from looking kinda silly. Anyway, I've tried to come up with a list of Saturday's runners who were most compromised by either the rides they got or the way their race unfolded. In a few cases, I think a poor-seeming run can be ignored and may perhaps lead to a bounce-back effort at decent odds in the next month or so.

Chris Cook RP

It is, as per the Racing League and whatever that football related day was at Haydock an utter load of twaddle. Has no place in a professional sport.

and yet hollie doyle still couldnt get a look in so why after reading all the trainers,connections,MSM,rubbishing the other jocks,why would anyone even entertain puttiong hollie up against tom,maq,moore,keane,tudhope,buick,doylie etc,when she cant win a race riding against so called rubbish,listening to haggis and co,hollie had a stone in hand in 6 handicaps and couldnt come close to winning a race

The slow death of the shergar cup is a blessing. An all too rare ascot saturday should showcase our sport wih group racing. Hopefully the fixture will revelrt asap. If you want a pop concert....well go to a pop concert.

Surely a six race program can be devised which doesnt crap on Glorious goodwood and york. 3 straight course mega handicaps which could be marketed for exotic bets a 2yo grp2 a 2m handicap and a 3yo conditions race. Just my ramblings

a slow death is not a blessing but a rapid one would be

Indeed it would be mitolo.
Regretably,this nonsense of an event is going nowhere

18,000 on sat down from 33,000 time to sack whoever booked the concert ACT ,
as proved everyday ,horsesd which used to run every 2 weeks mon to fri non saturday horses are now been kept back for, racing lg,sunday series,shergar cup, festivals apart you now can have mon to fri off punting on horse racing

just book oasis to play after the shergar cup next year, crowd up from 18,000 to 95,000

ya welcome

announce after the last race Oasis have cancelled but you've got Black Lace instead

no refunds.

Not a bad idea Hulk

id prefer black lace, whoever they are

The perpetrators of the hideous Agadoo