ASCOT RACECOURSE NEWS - Billy Loughnane, Seamie Heffernan and Marie VĂ©lon among jockeys set to ride in 2024 Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup

Published 2024/08/05

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Billy Loughnane, Seamie Heffernan and Marie Vélon among jockeys set to ride in 2024 Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Monday, 5th August 2024

Multiple Classic winner Seamie Heffernan, teenage sensation Billy Loughnane, and French Group 1 winner Marie Vélon are among the 12 jockeys today confirmed to ride in the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup this Saturday, 10th August.

Nine countries will be represented by the jockeys across the four teams while new ground is broken this year with an equal number of male and female jockeys for the first time in the history of the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup.

Vélon, the first French female jockey to win a French Group 1 race with her victory in the 2022 Prix Royal-Oak, will join the Ladies’ team which is captained by the legendary Hayley Turner, making a record-extending 17th appearance in the competition.

The team is completed by Saffie Osborne whose final race heroics secured the title for the Ladies last year.

The Rest of the World team will be captained by Australian-based five-time Group 1 winner Rachel King, and will also feature Japanese rider Nanako Fujita.

She made her Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup debut in 2019 and became the first female JRA jockey to compete in a Group 1 when doing so the same year.

South African jockey Rachel Venniker, successful in over 250 races already at the age of just 23, completes the line-up. Bauryzhan Murzabayev, from Kazakhstan and a four-time champion Flat jockey in Germany, captains the European team and he will be joined by Italian Alberto Sanna, who has ridden over 400 winners, including the 2000 Guineas in his native Italy twice in 2021 and 2022. Spaniard Jose-Luis Borrego, victorious in Classics in his home country and having ridden nearly 500 career winners, also makes his debut in the competition.

The Great Britain & Ireland team, led by Dubai World Cup-winning jockey Tadgh O’Shea, will see Loughnane make his Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup debut as the 18-year-old’s meteoric rise continued with his first two victories at Royal Ascot in June.

Loughnane’s youth will be combined with Heffernan’s experience, the 52-year-old bringing over 1,000 career victories, including both the Derby and the Oaks at Epsom.

A record £500,000 will be available in prize money across the six race programme with prize money paid down to 10th in each race. £25,000 in stable bonuses is also available split between the three leading yards.

After racing, Sugababes will headline a concert line-up, curated by The Cambridge Club, which also includes Ministry of Sound Ibiza Anthems ft. Ellie Sax, Scouting For Girls, and a DJ set from Denise Van Outen.

Nick Smith, Director of Racing and Public Affairs at Ascot Racecourse said: “We are thrilled with the line-up this year for the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup which has a really strong international flavour with nine countries represented.

“To have secured some top-class jockeys, including the star of the moment Billy Loughnane, and international Group 1 winning jockeys Rachel King and Marie Vélon is testament to the strength of the event.

The Ladies’ team has proven incredibly successful, both on the track and with our racegoers, so we’re delighted to be able to invite three more female jockeys to the Rest of the World team this year.”

ABOUT ASCOT RACECOURSE

Ascot Racecourse was founded in 1711 by Queen Anne, who identified the land as being ideal for horseracing when riding out from Windsor Castle. The first four day meeting at Ascot took place in 1768 and at some point in time, the race programme started being referred to as Royal Ascot.

The two tracks, Flat and Jumps, now provide racing all year round and Ascot hosts 26 days of racing each year, including the five days of Royal Ascot. It is Europe’s premier Flat racing meeting, featuring eight Group 1 races and 19 Group races in total. Typically, 300,000 racegoers attend across the five days while the event is broadcast in more than 200 territories with a reach of 650 million households.

As well as world-class racing, Ascot Racecourse is also used as a film and TV filming location and as a venue for conferences, banquets, exhibitions, product launches and weddings, with 300 non-racing events annually. The land on which Ascot Racecourse sits is leased from the Crown Estate, adjacent to Windsor Great Park, covering 179 acres. For more information please visit www.ascot.com

ABOUT DUBAI DUTY FREE

Since its opening in December 1983, Dubai Duty Free has grown into the single largest travel retail operator in the world in terms of turnover, and operates some 40,000sqm of retail space at Dubai International Airport and at Al Maktoum International.

Dubai Duty Free, which now has some 5,800 employees celebrated its 40th Anniversary on 20th December 2023 and ended the year with record sales of US$2.16 billion.

On 31st May 2024, Mr. Colm McLoughlin retired as Executive Vice Chairman and CEO, after 41 years at the helm of the company and is succeeded by Managing Director, Ramesh Cidambi, and Deputy Managing Director, Salah Tahlak.

Dubai Duty Free is continuing to invest in retail upgrades at Dubai International Airport resulting in a better shopping experience for its customers. Plans include refurbishing the Arrivals shops across all terminals as well as opening new boutiques for Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Cartier next year.

The recent announcement of the US$35 billion new passenger terminal at Al Maktoum International Airport, which will ultimately enable the airport to handle a passenger capacity of 260 million, is a clear indication of the continued importance of the Aviation sector to Dubai.

Dubai Duty Free has also continued to promote Dubai as a leading business and leisure destination through its sponsorship of major sporting events.

A supporter of horseracing for more than 25 years, with the sport playing an important role in Dubai Duty Free’s sponsorship portfolio, Dubai Duty Free is the title sponsor of four horseracing events in the UK and Ireland including the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup.

Dubai Duty Free also flies the flag in the UK in April and September at Newbury Racecourse which stages the Dubai Duty Free Spring Trials Weekend and the Dubai Duty Free International Weekend and is also the title sponsor of one of the biggest race meetings in Europe, the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby, held at The Curragh.

In addition to its horseracing sponsorship portfolio, other major sporting events on its calendar include the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, which is owned and organised by Dubai Duty Free and attracts the top WTA and ATP tennis players in the world. This year’s tournament, which generated US$468 million in TV coverage, was won by Jasmine Paolini and Ugo Humbert, both of whom claimed their maiden Dubai titles.

Other sports to benefit from Dubai Duty Free’s support include the Dubai Duty Free Golf World Cup, the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby 7’s and the Dubai International Basketball Tournament.