Last season's race

• Winner: Tenability
• Jockey: Delphine Santiago
• Trainer: William Haggas
• Owner: Miss Yvonne Jacques
• Age: 3 Weight: 9st 13lbs
• Starting Price: 7-4
• Season Form Figures: 5411
• Previous Best: 1st - Me2 Club Handicap (Class 4), Ascot (July 2025)

By Paul Jones

Contested over 1m4f and restricted to three-year-olds rated up to 95 so, with no age stats to dissect and there also being no great weight trends of note (though six of the last seven winners carried 9st 10lb+), it is arguably the weakest of the six long-standing Shergar Cup races on trends.

It’s been a good race though for the Johnston stable (four wins in the last 16 runnings) and Richard Hannon (two wins in the last ten). Fifteen of Mark Johnston’s 34 runners in the 13 contests up to him passing on the baton to his son made the frame at worst including registering the 1-2 in 2021. 

Charlie Johnston saddled the runner-up in 2023. Three of Amanda Perrett’s last six contenders have hit the frame (will be unrepresented this time) and Andrew Balding has trained a winner and six places from his 15 runners and has three entries.

With just ten runners the draw should not make as much as a difference as other 1m4f handicap contested at Ascot throughout the season with bigger fields but it is worth pointing out that up until Tenabilty’s success last season, the previous 14 winners were drawn no lower than stall 5.

Five of the last 16 winners had their most recent start at Ascot and, for those who like jockey stats, it has gone the way to the Rest of the World team in four of the last nine runnings.

Twelve of the last 16 winners were sent off at no bigger than 8-1 and five favourites struck within that time frame.