Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Jamie Melham has been picked as one of the team captains at this year’s Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup at Ascot.

In November last year Melham became only the second female jockey to win Australia’s biggest race and the first to complete the Caulfield Cup-Melbourne Cup double on Half Yours.

The 30-year-old, who rode at the Shergar Cup in 2019 under her maidan name Kah, is a trailblazer in Australia where she has ridden 1,359 winners, including 19 at Group 1 level. Melham said: “I’m thrilled to be taking part in the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup this year, it’s such a unique raceday.

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“It’s an honour to have the chance to ride at Ascot again and I can’t wait to captain the Rest of the World team. As a Global Event Ambassador, I’m excited to be able to work with Ascot and Dubai Duty Free to promote the event over the coming months.”

The team event will celebrate its 25th edition this year on August 8 when it will be part of the World Pool programme for the first time.

Interest from the Far East will be heightened by the creation of a new Hong Kong Jockey Club team, which will replace the Asia team, which will feature three riders from that jurisdiction who will be led by Vincent Ho.

Indian champion Suraj Narredu who in 2025 captained the Asia team to victory on his debut in the competition will also return.

Nick Smith, Director of Racing, Ascot Racecourse, added: “This will be the 25th running of the Shergar Cup at Ascot and it’s exciting to see another evolution of the event, with World Pool and Hong Kong Jockey Club involvement for the first time. As ever we are hugely grateful to Dubai Duty Free for their support of this event, and of British and Irish racing as a whole.”

Andrew Harding, Executive Director, Racing of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, said: ”The Hong Kong Jockey Club is excited to be represented with our own team at the 25th running of the Shergar Cup at Ascot this year, especially when Vincent Ho, a world-class product of our renowned Apprentice Jockeys’ School in Hong Kong and the regular rider of former champion Golden Sixty, will captain The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s side.

“The introduction of a Hong Kong-licensed jockeys’ team reflects both the depth of star riders in our jurisdiction and the Club’s continued commitment to contributing to the global development of premier racing events.

“It is also exciting to see the Shergar Cup run under the World Pool banner for the first time, and we here in Hong Kong are very much looking forward to the event.”