Shergar Cup Day

Good Morning racing fans, today is the annual Shergar Cup held at Ascot as well as many supporting cards around the country. Whether you are for or against the Shergar Cup, you have to admit it brings the world of racing with four teams taking part this year. Captain of the home team is Kieren Fallon, he is joined by James Doyle and 2000 Guineas winning jockey Kevin Manning for Team Great Britain.

As always there is fierce competition from the European team with the trio of Andrasch Starke, Ioritz Mendizabal and Gerald Mosse completing that team.

They are joined by the team from the Rest Of The World headed by Gary Stevens with Yasunari Iwata and Joao Moreira completing that side.

Last but not least we have the ladies who could well be springing a not so big surprise, unfortunately with Hayley Turner breaking her ankle she sacrifices her place. This means the team captain is the more than capable Cathy Gannon, she is joined by Lisa Allpress and Rosie Napravnik.

As you can see its wide open this year and any team could be winning this year, personally I would be boring and side with the home team who look to have the most firepower. Back in second I would expect to be the ladies who have a marvellous book of rides amongst them.

Last week we managed to find two winners with our NAP being Urban Space and our first runner Sound Reflection who looks one to keep on your side. Our next best was just foiled with Duke Of Perth just denied close home but giving us a run for our money nonetheless. The other two were disappointments but we march on to this week with a few strong selections and a lot of confidence... Hopefully.

Martin is once again running a Pigeon Swoop open to everyone, just tweet your selections to @Pigeon_Island for the following races: Haydock 2:20 and 3:25 then Newmarket 3:00 and the 3:35. You can check your selections and other players at www.pigeonscoop4.wordpress.com for a bit of excitement to your afternoon.

One last mention before we crack on with this week's selections. This time last week we were wishing Siobhan Miller a speedy recovery after she broke her Collarbone in a fall at Goodwood. This week we wish Racheal Kneller a fast return after she broke her back in a fall from a 2 year old when riding out for Mark Usher. Please go and show her a bit of love and let her know we are all thinking of her as I know she isn't the biggest fan of hospitals. Send your get well messages to her twitter which is @Rachealkneller or you can leave me a message and I will make sure she receives it. Get well soon Racheal, hope to see you back on the track soon.

But now onto this week's action:

12:55 Ascot - Sam Sharp

Shergar Cup day can start off with one for the ladies here with Cathy Gannon on Sam Sharp for Ian Williams. Regular readers may know how highly I regard this horse and despite being a 7 year old he is in the form of his life and running off a career high mark. Just looking at his runs this year however is greatly encouraging, he started off as a very unlucky loser when flying home at Haydock. He then bolted in at York despite still finding a little bit of trouble when making his move, he was by far the best that day though. Most recently however he ran in a very strong race at Newmarket in which he found only Godolphin's Snowboarder too good. Even on that day he may have been the best horse as he was once again flying home but running out of time when the line came. This looks an easier race in truth and Sam Sharp is more than capable of winning from this mark of 93. Sam Sharp to get our day off to a flier. (5/1)

2:20 Haydock - Labarinto

I really fancied Labarinto on day one of Glorious Goodwood last week but the trip seemed a little on the short side possibly after being outpaced late on. He still managed a more than respectable 3rd that day behind the fast finishing Viewpoint under Richard Hughes and the tough Nabucco. On that form and from just a pound higher in the weights, this trip looks ideal for him and at the prices can give a bold show of himself. Again there is every possibility that this race is easier than last time and he wont need to find too much improvement to win a race of this standard. The danger could well come in the form of Ismail Mohammed's representative, Educate who has the eye catching jockey booking of Johnny Murtagh. Labarinto to get his big day here however. (8/1)

2:40 Ascot - Chesterfield

Chesterfield is another horse I hold in very high regard and at one point I thought he was a St Leger horse, but this is only his fourth outing today. On his seasonal reappearance he was beaten just 2 and a half lengths by the rapidly improving Maputo and has since improved for that run. His most recent win saw him battle brilliantly to get the better of Lady Pimpernel in a very good staying fashion. He was off the bridle every now and then for a couple of strides but instantly came back onto the bridle and came down the centre of the home straight to win. The runner up has franked the form by coming second on its next outing so the form has a nice look about it. Kevin Manning takes the ride for the home team which is a big positive with him riding out of his skin as of late. Chesterfield looks to hold the key to this race and can continue his improvement into a Group horse. (3/1)

3:25 Haydock - Expressly

A tough race here with a whole host of horses in with good chances but we go with the completely unexposed Expressly for Charlie Appleby. I was at Ascot to watch her debut and couldn't have been more impressed with her in everything she did that day. In a group of fairly nervous and babyish three year olds, she was the only one that was relaxed and behaved herself in the preliminaries. She then won with the minimum of fuss and was oh so impressive when travelling through the field hard on the bridle. The only worry then was that she may idle in front, that fear was put to bed as quickly as the race when Mickael Barzalona gave her a squeeze. Everything about her seems to point towards a top class filly, from breeding to the fact that Godolphin put her straight into a listed race after debut. Her step brother is the top class Rio De La Plata who is a well known name all throughout Europe. Expressly to show her class and use this as a stepping stone to bigger and better things. (5/1)

NAP - Sam Sharp
Nb - Expressly

Good luck today guys, a patent with Expressly, Chesterfield and Sam Sharp should return nicely.

Happy Punting!