There are few race meetings in the world that celebrate jockeys quite like the Shergar Cup at Ascot. While most major racedays place the spotlight firmly on the horses, the Shergar Cup is different. It is a competition built around teamwork, international rivalry and the skill of the riders themselves, making it one of the most distinctive events on the global racing calendar.
This year’s edition marks a genuine first for Hong Kong racing. When the Shergar Cup celebrates its 25th running this weekend, Team Hong Kong will line up alongside Great Britain & Ireland, Europe and the Rest of the World – the first occasion in the competition’s history that a racing jurisdiction has fielded its own official team. It is an important milestone in the silver anniversary year of Ascot’s signature summer fixture, and is recognition of Hong Kong’s standing in the sport and the calibre of riders who compete here week after week.
The format is straightforward. Four teams of three, six races, and every jockey takes five of the six rides. The allocation is settled by random ballot, so no team can gain an advantage. Points go to the first five home in each race: 15 for the winner, then 10, seven, five and three. Team totals decide the Shergar Cup. Individual totals decide the Silver Saddle, which goes to the meeting’s leading rider.
What the scoring rewards is consistency rather than brilliance. A team that picks up points in every race will usually beat a team that wins twice and finishes down the field elsewhere. It asks riders to think about the scoreboard, not just the winning post.
Comparisons with golf’s Ryder Cup are well made. These are athletes who spend their careers competing as individuals, suddenly asked to think as a unit.
Vincent Ho captains our team, and there could be no better choice. Vincent is a graduate of The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Apprentice Jockeys’ School and the rider who partnered the magnificent GOLDEN SIXTY through all 10 of that great horse’s Group 1 victories. He also knows this fixture. He rode in the 2019 renewal for the winning Rest of the World team and took the Shergar Cup Mile on POWER OF DARKNESS for his first Ascot success.
Alongside him are two riders who represent the exciting future of Hong Kong racing.
Jerry Chau travels to Great Britain as our reigning Tony Cruz Award winner, having finished the 2025/26 season as Hong Kong’s leading homegrown rider. It was an ambition he pursued with real determination. Jerry announced himself on the international stage last September in the G3 Korea Sprint with SELF IMPROVEMENT, when he outrode a hot favourite partnered by the great Yutaka Take. He will meet Yutaka again on Saturday, this time in the ranks of the Rest of the World.
Jerry Chau travels to Great Britain as our reigning Tony Cruz Award winner, having finished the 2025/26 season as Hong Kong’s leading homegrown rider. It was an ambition he pursued with real determination. Jerry announced himself on the international stage last September in the G3 Korea Sprint with SELF IMPROVEMENT, when he outrode a hot favourite partnered by the great Yutaka Take. He will meet Yutaka again on Saturday, this time in the ranks of the Rest of the World.
Source: Hong Kong Jockey Club