Dettori rides for G.B.

RUSSELL BAZE and Jorge Ricardo, the two most-winning jockeys in the world, came face to face for the first time on Thursday ahead of Saturday's Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup, where they willjoin forces as part of the Rest of the World team.

As of August 4 the pair had enjoyed 10,234 and 10,299 victories respectively - and are the only riders to have broken through into five figures.

However, the duo and team captain Yutaka Take are the outsiders at 7-1 with Ladbrokes to lift the Shergar Cup, with Ireland and Europe joint-favourites at 7-4 and Great Britain on offer at 3s.

Hayley Turner will take charge of the British team and be joined by Seb Sanders and Frankie Dettori, while Jamie Spencer captains Ireland and has Kevin Manning and Richard Hughes riding with him.

The European contingent is led by France's Gerald Mosse and he is joined by Italian Mirco Demuro as well as Turkey's greatest-ever rider Halis Karatas.

California-based Baze and South American-icon Ricardo have dominated the build-up to this year's renewal of the jockeys' championship, and shook hands for the first time under the watchful eye of heavyweight boxing legend Frank Bruno.

Baze, celebratinghis 50th birthday, said: "It is fantastic to be here - Ascot is a wonderful facility and is one of the greatest tracks in the world.

"I never forecasted so many wins when I started my career, and I am happy to be on a team with someone who has achieved more than I have.
"Michael Dickinson has coached me a little for this weekend. He has given me some hints and sent me a DVD of last year's Shergar Cup.

"I haven't ridden over a straight mile before or ridden right-handed but I don't anticipate too many problems and the horses are used to going that way!

"I am really looking forward to it as it is such a departure from what I normally do."

Ricardo, who was riding in Buenos Aires on Monday, said: "It is a great pleasure for me to be invited to an event of such magnitude. I hope that it will go well and that we will be victorious.

"I never imagined that I would get to achieve so many victories. It has been a real pleasure to meet and get to know Mr Baze who is an outstanding jockey, and it is an honour to be on the same team as him.

"People take great interest in our duel so I am sure the Shergar Cup will have considerable interest in the media back home."

The meeting looks like being run on slow ground, with clerk of the course Chris Stickels advising those attending the post-race pop concert featuring Belinda Carlisle, ABC and others to bring an umbrella.

He said: "The ground is good at the moment but the forecast is unsettled and we are forecast thunder showers at any time Thursday and into the night.

"We are then forecast showery rain Saturday morning into the afternoon, and if the forecast is right then we will be on the soft side."

Shergar Cup 'going to be quite an experience', says Baze



THE fact he has 10,234 winners but has yet to ride on a right-handed course, a little if incredible matter Russell Baze will put right on Saturday when he competes for the Rest of the World team in Ascot's Shergar Cup.

Baze spent most of his 50th birthday at the racecourse on Thursday, and he took the opportunity to walk a circuit in preparation for the Dubai Duty Free-sponsored event, which boasts prize-money of £210,000 and will be shown live on BBC2.

“I've never ridden right-handed, and I've never ridden up and down hill, so this is going to be quite an experience,” said the nine-time US champion, who was clearly looking forward to the challenge.

Apart from that, Ascot's straight 7f will be something new for him - as will the distance of 2m.

However, since he was selected for the three-man team, he has received coaching from former trainer Michael Dickinson.

"He has been very helpful to me,” added Baze. ”He has told me all about Ascot, and he sent me the video of last year's Shergar Cup, which I have studied closely. They'll be a lot new happening for me on Saturday, but I don't envisage a problem.”

Unfortunately for Baze, Thursday's draw for rides was far from kind to him. His shortest-priced ride with Ladbrokes is Greenwich Meantime, a 5-1 shot for the 2m race.

For the first time on Thursday, Baze met the only other jockey in the world to ride more than 10,000 winners, Jorge Ricardo who on Monday landed a five-timer from seven mounts in Buenos Aires to put him 65 ahead of Baze.

Although also making his first visit to Britain, Ricardo, who is 46, rode at Longchamp in 1988, and again in 1994.

Speaking via an interpreter, Ricardo said: “It is a great honour for me to be involved in this competition. Ascot looks a fabulous place, and I couldn't be more impressed.

"I've mostly ridden left-handed courses , but in South America we do have some that go the other way.”

He, too, had a rough time of it in the draw, picking up several outsiders, including The Trader (25-1 with Ladbrokes) and Desert Sea (20-1). His most fancied rides are Candle and Steam Cuisine, both 5-1.

The Rest of the World team will be captained by Japan's Yutaka Take, who is a Shergar Cup veteran.

Apart from Baze and Richardo, the only other rider present on Thursday was Turkey's champion Halis Karatas.

Acclaimed as his country's great ever jockey, he has 'foreign' experience, and has ridden winners in the United Arab Emirates.

On Saturday, he will be on the event's shortest-priced favourite, Goldophin's All The Good, who is 2-1.