Shergar Cup: Jamie Lynch's five horses to follow at Ascot on Saturday as international stars battle it out

The Shergar Cup is back at Ascot this Saturday, with a line-up of international stars, a brand new team and the return of one of the world's best jockeys in Ryan Moore.

1.35 - Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Dash (5f)

A fortnight ago at Cork, KENDALL ROY was beaten a short head and a neck in a five-furlong handicap which was sub-57 seconds, and he felt the pinch of that before finishing off strongly, so much so that he could be considered rather lucky to be left on the same mark.

His trainer Kate McGivern is three from nine at home in Ireland this year, and she clearly has a touch with sprinters given Grayrobin's rapid rise. With All Ways Glamorous, Gold Star Hero and Cinque Verde in direct competition, the Dash projects to get very hot very quickly, which will be right up Kendall Roy's fast-finishing street.

2:10 - Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Stayers (2m)

Mark Johnston was beaten a short head into second with Spirit of Love in the very first Shergar Cup Stayers event and, a quarter of a century on, the same stable, with Charlie in charge, is still fashioning the same sort.

POLE STAR needs a bounce back, but returning to two miles will help him no end and he's now lower in the handicap than when he won a Racing League race around this time last year.

He maps to be prominent in a race without much pace and, interlinked, he has the acute advantage of Dylan Browne McMonagle, whose stats this season are all the more striking at staying trips, with a 20 per cent strike-rate in Britain and Ireland.

3:20 - Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Sprint (6f)

The 2025 Windsor Castle winner HAVANA HURRICANE has only recently dipped down to handicaps, after contesting the Commonwealth Cup, but they've both been over five furlongs, which no longer gets to the bottom of him.

But, he generated the flame symbol for his finish at Sandown and was beaten only two-and-a-half lengths - again after good late work - in a better handicap than this at Ascot last time in which the first two were Dubai Bling and Behike.

The seduction of a straight six means this race, more than any at the Shergar Cup, traditionally goes the way of the hold-up horses (the last six winners have all come from the back of the field), and Havana Hurricane certainly fits that bill.

3:55 - Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Classic (1m 4f)

HOSEKI recorded closing splits of 11.9s, 11.3s and 11.5s - rare indeed for this course and distance - when she overcame a steady gallop last month, probably undersold by a 5lb rise.

The other upshot of the pedestrian pace that day is we're still to see much of the stamina that Hoseki is bred for (from the family of Al Aasy and Align The Stars).

She's on a roll, as is her rider Saffie Osborne, and, for many, Hoseki is the make-or-break horse of the 2026 Shergar Cup. I think she'll make it four in a row.

4:30 - Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Mile (1m)

At the age of five, 31 races into his career, TWO TRIBES will be trying a mile for the first time here, but his finishing speed and run-out speed from the seven-furlong International - in which he was second (of 16) to Amazing Journey - raises hope for the requisite stamina.

It's easy to hand him a pass for last week when favourite to make it back-to-back Stewards' Cups, as he all but came down leaving the stalls, and, given his gears and late-coming style, the race flow of a round mile at Ascot may just suit him, plus he has McMonagle on board.