ITV Racing Tips: Two Shergar Cup Picks

Like Marmite, the Shergar Cup is a meeting you either love or hate. It divides racing fans, but always attracts a good Ascot crowd and is the centrepiece of Saturday's ITV Racing coverage. Billy Grimshaw has two betting tips on the card.

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13:35 Ascot - Shergar Cup Dash

A typically competitive affair in the Dash kicks off Shergar Cup Day and the one I want to side with is making a quickfire reappearance from an admittedly poor prep run at Glorious Goodwood last time out, FANDOM. Ascot is notoriously one of the stiffest flat track finishes in Britain and as such over this minimum trip I want a horse that will be held onto and smuggled into contention, and this lad fits the bill. That was what it looked like he attempted to do at Goodwood in the Stewards Cup but never got going over a trip that stretched him a smidgen and he was certainly not given a hard time when out of contention, perhaps with this race in mind.

Prior to that run he came third here in a heritage handicap and I think there's potential he was value for a place or two better, given he was ridden more prominently than he usually is. Suraj Narredu is not a jockey I am an expert on, truth be told, but he is experienced over in India and Richard Hannon will I've no doubt instruct him to hold onto his charge for as long as he dares before mounting a late challenge. He did of course win a race at the Shergar Cup last year, becoming the first Indian to do so as Team Asia won the Cup. This year, he represents Rest Of World.

There are tonnes of dangers in here, none more so than favourite Bolo Neighs for Ralph Beckett who should also be played late, but the 7/1 about Fandom looks generous at the time of writing and he can go well to kick us off.

15:20 Ascot - Shergar Cup Sprint

It's tough to have a banker at a meeting as unique as the Shergar Cup, but if there is one on the card then surely it is THUNDER CALL in this. William Haggas's charge will be ridden by Jerry Chau for team Hong Kong and like with my earlier tip in the Dash, I am hunting here for a hold up horse to swoop late. Haggas's runner looks the obvious candidate. When we last saw him he was strong in the market at Newmarket but only managed third place, which will have disappointed his backers. However, looking back analytically there was absolutely nothing wrong with that run and he was simply the victim of circumstance.

That day at Newmarket there was a definite pace bias for those making the running - the winner of Thunder Call's race did just that with the eventual second always sitting prominently too. Thunder Call was the only horse held up who made any sort of inroads on the leaders and can be marked up heavily for that performance. This is undoubtedly a better horse than a mark of 91 suggests and providing Chau does not twitch too soon I believe he should win this race cosily enough. It is not essential to be drawn high, but it is advantageous in this race over the years so his draw in 11 is another positive and he'll be my biggest bet of the day.