Ryan Moore has not ridden at the Shergar Cup since 2006. Twenty years is a long gap. On Saturday at Ascot, he made up for it in a single afternoon: two winners, the Silver Saddle, and a GB&I team victory that was never seriously in doubt once the second half of the card began.
GB&I finished on 81 points, 19 clear of Hong Kong and Europe, who tied on 62. Rest of the World scored 39. It was a convincing win in the end, though Hong Kong gave the home crowd something to think about in the opening two races.
The Shergar Cup is a team points competition. Three jockeys represent each of the four teams, GB&I, Europe, Hong Kong, and Rest of the World — across six races at Ascot. Points are allocated for finishing positions in each race, not just wins. A team can take the lead without its jockeys winning races outright. That said, winning races carries significant weight, and Saturday’s story was largely told through the race winners.
Hong Kong set the early pace. C L Chau brought home Tuco Salamanca in the Dash (5 furlongs, 13:35), a sharp five-furlong contest that the Hong Kong team started confidently. Luke Ferraris then won the Stayers (2 miles, 14:10) on Dancing In Paris for Ian Williams, and Hong Kong were making a case. Two races in, they held the initiative.
Then GB&I took over.
Moore made his first move in the Challenge (1 mile 4 furlongs, 14:45), sending Dylan Cunha’s Asgard’s Captain clear for a win that was both composed and comfortable. GB&I captain Saffie Osborne followed in the Sprint (6 furlongs, 15:20), landing Red Spells Danger for T D Easterby. That Sprint win was the hinge of the afternoon — attheraces.com’s headline put it plainly: “Team specialist Osborne leads GB and Ireland to Shergar Cup glory.” Osborne’s ride put GB&I into a lead they would not relinquish.
Moore added a second winner in the Classic (1 mile 4 furlongs, 15:55) on Archers Bay for Marco Botti. At that point, GB&I had won three of the five races completed, and the points gap made the final race academic.
Europe’s Frida Valle Skar took the Mile (1 mile, 16:30) on Crown Board for Jane Chapple-Hyam, a win that kept Europe out of last place but did nothing to change the destination of the trophy.
The Silver Saddle
Moore’s individual points tally was 47, well ahead of Europe’s Christophe Lemaire on 35 and Hong Kong’s Jerry Chau on 32. Frida Valle Skar scored 22 for Europe. Saffie Osborne and Rest of the World’s Yutaka Take both finished on 20.
The Silver Saddle, the award for the top individual jockey, is a record that adds another layer to Moore’s day. He won it in 2006 too, the last time he rode at this meeting, scoring 50 points that year. Saturday brought him back to the same award, 20 years on. Whether it is more impressive to win it twice with a two-decade gap, or to do it in what amounts to a single day’s work on each occasion, is open to argument. Either way, the numbers are his.
The bigger picture
The Shergar Cup is a standalone charity event, no league table changes, no qualification picture shifts. GB&I winning means they hold the trophy for 2026. That is what they came to do, and they did it.
For Moore, the afternoon was a reminder that his presence changes the atmosphere of a race meeting. He has won enough Group Ones — and ridden enough champions, that even a single appearance at a team event carries weight. The 2026 Shergar Cup gave him a day to show what two decades away from the meeting had not dulled.
Osborne’s contribution was equally clear. Captaining the side and winning the decisive Sprint put her at the centre of the team’s afternoon. The GB&I crew worked. The result showed it.
For the rest: Hong Kong gave Ascot a genuine contest in the first half of the card. Rest of the World finished last on 39 points. The competition was competitive across all six races, which is the point of the format.
GB&I are the 2026 Shergar Cup champions.
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