'Racing's Ryder Cup' - Scott revels in Ascot aura

BBC News

15 hours ago

"It's such a special meeting, it's like no other week in racing - you could sort of equate it to FA Cup finals, Ryder Cups and things like that."Newmarket trainer George Scott and jockey Callum Shepherd proved a winning combination when Isle Of Jura won the Hardwicke Stakes at last year's Royal Ascot and they can't wait to get back there for this week's meeting.Scott expects to saddle nine or 10 runners from his Eve Lodge Stables yard over the course of the four days and is upbeat about the chances of more success."I'm just excited to take a bunch of horses there in this form - this is the first time we've taken a proper team," he told BBC Look East."Of course, that moment with Isle Of Jura is very special but we move on. We'll be looking to try and do it again in some capacity. As long as the horses turn up healthy, then we should be OK." Scott became a trainer 10 years ago and 2024 was his most successful to date with 48 winners at home and abroad, including Isle Of Jura's victory.It was an especially sweet moment for Shepherd, whose friend and fellow jockey Stefano Cherchi died after a fall in Australia a couple of months earlier - and who had been replaced as rider of Ambiente Friendly, which finished second, for the 2024 Derby at Epsom."It's the best moment I've ever had on a horse, the best moment I've ever had in sport," said the 27-year-old Shepherd."The buzz was unlike anything I've ever experienced and he set the narrative, set the tone for the second half of the season last year where we were just incredibly successful. That followed into the winter with success in Dubai, Bahrain, the German St Leger, to name just a few. "That day just felt like the start of something big. I can't explain how much we all enjoyed it together. It was magic."
'We understand each other'
Former public schoolboy Shepherd has a rival for sporting glory within his own family - his golfing brother Laird won the British Amateur Championship in 2021.But it is his relationship with Scott which is helping progress his career and it is one that he believes has "grown and got stronger" since they first began working together "four or five years ago"."We really do have an excellent working relationship. We've had success all over the world now and we understand each other very well," he said."He knows how I like to ride and obviously likes that. It suits our horses, suits our approach to racing. Now we don't really need to say a lot to each other before races. He knows I've done my homework and I've got to know the horses as much as I can - it works pretty well." Scott believes there is a "basis of trust" underpinning their working relationship.And he added: "We knit together nicely. We're lucky to have Callum. It's really been the perfect pair. He's on this upward trajectory for the first time, as am I, and I'm really enjoying the fact that we're doing it together."Callum's hard on himself, he's his own strongest critic and if things haven't gone to plan, if I've prepared the horse wrong or run it in the wrong race, he's not snapping back at me - and similarly, I wouldn't be too critical of him. It's a give-take type of thing."
Scott's leading contenders
Among Scott's horses for Ascot, he has high hopes for Staya in Wednesday's Queen Mary Stakes, a five-furlong race for two-year-old fillies."She's only run once and won very impressively at Yarmouth. She's by Havana Grey who's doing fantastically [at stud], especially with his two-year-olds. She's one of the favourites [for the Queen Mary], near the head of the market off one run, so we're hoping for a big run from her."He is also keen to see how Gaga Mate will fare in the Windsor Castle Stakes on the same day, having only recently joined the yard."He seems very uncomplicated. You can see with him, he's moving well. Everything's sort of straightforward with him," said Scott."The more horses go into the big meetings, the more pressure. But 10 runners spread over five days is very manageable. It's really amazing when you think about someone like Willie Mullins, who takes 50 or 60 horses to the Cheltenham Festival."Royal Ascot begins on Tuesday, when Scott hopes to have runners in the King Charles III Stakes, Wolferton Stakes and Copper House Handicap."I go into it with a lot of excitement. There's a lot of live chances," said Shepherd."I've got some good rides for other people as well, other than George, and I think the confidence you take from having been there and done it before puts you in a good position to go and do it again."And once you've done it once, you want to do it again, believe me."