The Battle of the Clerk Vs the PA - less than 1 week to go

Less than 1 week until our Clerk of the Course, Chris Stickels races against his PA, Beccy Green. They’re competing for the ‘The Racing to School Frankel Challenge Trophy’ on Wednesday 2nd May and racing money for BHEST Racing to School.

Here is the final update from the duo before next weeks race:

Chris and Beccy are  both continuing to train hard, both on and off the race track.

Beccy is so dedicated that she woke up at 5.45am Wednesday morning to ride out in the torrential rain and gale force winds at Chris Gordon’s yard near Winchester. Wearing 2 coats and waterproof trousers, she still ended up soaked so hideous was the weather! However, she did get the opportunity to ride a piece of work (faster pace up the gallops), with up and coming National Hunt jockey Tom Cannon.

 She now has the full kit having collected her racing saddle, boots and breeches from Windsor Racecourse on Monday. She’s a busy weekend ahead, visiting Garry Moore’s yard where in the hope she’ll ride one of his horses in the race and competing her eventing horse, Another General, at Nurstead Horse Trials on Sunday.

Chris rode out twice earlier this week, visiting Ed de Giles’s stable on Tuesday in final preparation. Chris has confirmation that his horse will be the 7 year old gelding, Mahadee, a great horse to be riding.

Though he’s now tied up with preparation for the raceday, he’s going to try to fit runs or a ride on the equicizer to keep his fitness up ready for the big day.

Follow @AscotInsider to find out how Chris and Beccy are dealing with their nerves in the run up to the charity race next Wednesday.
 
Chris and Beccy now only have 19% left of their fundraising total to meet. The money they raise will benefit pupils of all backgrounds and ages in the UK as all proceeds go to BHEST Racing to School, British horseracing’s free education programme. If you would like to help them reach their full target, visit their Just Giving Page.

To witness their battle at 5.30pm Wednesday 2nd May, tickets start from £13.50 in advance for Premier Admission. Grandstand Admission has Sold Out. To book call 0844 346 3000 or visit ascot.co.uk.

Australia’s Leading Ladies Headline International Royal Ascot Entries

Black Caviar (Peter Moody), with the Diamond Jubilee Stakes her most likely target, headlines entries from 11 countries for Royal Ascot’s Group One races and she could lead a female Australian team unprecedented in strength including her stablemate King’s Rose, Ortensia (Paul Messara) and Australia’s champion miler, More Joyous (Gai Waterhouse).

The great Black Caviar needs no introduction and the unbeaten mare is set to ship to the UK at the beginning of June, all being well, following two runs in Adelaide.

Ortensia, entered in both sprints but likely to be campaigned primarily for the King’s Stand Stakes, is in the UK already following her victory in the Al Quoz Sprint in Dubai whilst King’s Rose will run next in Hong Kong and could then ship to the UK, possibly to lock horns again with seven time Group One winner, More Joyous, in the Queen Anne Stakes.

When the pair last met in the Queen Of The Turf Stakes on 7th April, More Joyous had King’s Rose just under three lengths back in third before going on to land Australia’s most prestigious mile race, The Doncaster Handicap (Randwick), under second top weight. Both have also been entered in the Group Two Windsor Forest Stakes which closes next week.

Not to be outdone, Australia’s top two active male sprinters, with Hay List sidelined, are also entered for Royal Ascot in the form of Foxwedge (John O’Shea) and Temple of Boom (Tony Gollan).

Foxwedge had been the model of consistency at Group One level until disappointing due to a throat infection in the recent T J Smith Stakes but had previously defeated Hay List in the William Reid Stakes. He remains on course for the King’s Stand Stakes and possibly the Diamond Jubilee Stakes. The same double is an option for Temple of Boom, who burst onto the Group One scene at the weekend with victory in the Galaxy Stakes at Randwick.

All Three 2012 Global Sprint Challenge Leg Winners Entered For Royal Ascot

Three of the 10 legs of the 2012 Global Sprint Challenge have been run and the winners of all three races are entered for the Diamond Jubilee Stakes (leg 6).

Lightning Stakes (leg 1) winner Black Caviar is obviously the highest profile of them but Japanese Champion, Curren Chan (Takayuki Yasuda), and Bahrain-trained Krypton Factor (Fawzi Nass), could be waiting in the wings to take her on following victories in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen (leg 2) and Dubai Golden Shaheen (leg 3) respectively.

There are only two Group One Sprints in Japan, the Sprinters Stakes and the Takamatsunomiya Kinen, and Curren Chan has won the latest renewals of both of them. She could be joined in the UK by compatriot, Curren Black Hill (Osamu Hirata), who is entered in the St James’s Palace Stakes following a Group Two victory at Nakayama earlier in the month.

Krypton Factor, who has been a revelation in Dubai during the recent Carnival, has leg 4 of the Global Sprint Challenge in Singapore in his sights before Royal Ascot.

The first four home in Dubai’s Group One 5f Turf Sprint on World Cup night, the Al Quoz, are all engaged in the King’s Stand Stakes, including third placed Joy And Fun (Derek Cruz), who is one of five Hong Kong entries across Royal Ascot’s Group One programme.

Also engaged in the sprints for Hong Kong are Little Bridge (Danny Shum), who split Joy and Fun and Curren Chan when fourth in the Hong Kong Sprint in December, and Captain Sweet (John Moore), who was second to Little Bridge in the recent Bauhinia Sprint Trophy

John Moore has also entered versatile stable star, Xtension, for both the Queen Anne Stakes and Prince of Wales’s Stakes whilst Derek Cruz is considering Collection for the Prince of Wales’s Stakes.

 
Legendary US Owner Ken Ramsey Massing His Ranks & Possible First For Asmussen

No one from the US has supported Royal Ascot more loyally than Ken Ramsey, whose famous red and white silks came so close to victory with Cannonball in the 2009 Golden Jubilee Stakes, and he has three horses entered for the Group One races with a promise of more to come as part of Wesley Ward’s two-year-old team.

The star name amongst the Group One trio is Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner, Stephanie’s Kitten (Wayne Catalano), who is firmly on course for the Coronation Stakes.

In the colts’ equivalent, the St James’s Palace Stakes, Ramsey has entered Gung Ho (Michael Maker), who was third in the recent Group One Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, whilst Big Blue Kitten (Chad Brown), third in a Grade One on turf at Gulfstream in February, is engaged in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes.

 
A further exciting prospect for the United States comes in the form of Steve Asmussen’s Great Mills, who was narrowly denied by Perfect Officer in the recent Shakertown Stakes at Keeneland, one of the top early season turf sprints in America. With tremendous early pace, he looks ideally suited to the speed test of the King’s Stand Stakes and could represent the US in what looks a fascinating international contest on the opening day of the meeting.

Asmussen has been champion trainer in the US no less than five times and is possibly best known for training the brilliant Curlin.

Other notable international names that feature at this stage are Overdose (Jozef Roszival) for Hungary and Master Of Hounds (Mike De Kock) for South Africa, whilst three German-trained and 36 French-trained horses have been entered, including QIPCO Champion Stakes winner, Cirrus des Aigles (Corine Barande-Barbe).

Ireland has 63 entries, 43 of which come from Aidan O’Brien’s Ballydoyle powerhouse, including names such as Camelot, Maybe, So You Think, Fame And Glory and Excelebration.

Headlining the home team, of course, is Frankel, who could appear in the Queen Anne Stakes over a mile or step up to 10f in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes.

Entry stakes have been paid by the connections of no fewer than 344 horses across the seven Group One races at Royal Ascot, all of which form part of the QIPCO British Champions Series.

Charles Barnett, Chief Executive at Ascot, said.

"Once again we are delighted to see such a wide range of entries from around the world, headlined of course by Frankel for the home team and Black Caviar from Australia.

“The star names don’t end there, however, and include the Japanese sprint champion, Curren Chan, the Australian mile champion, More Joyous, some fascinating names from the United States, a particularly numerically strong Hong Kong entry and the best from all over Europe.

“It would be wonderful to be able to welcome Gai Waterhouse back with a runner and nothing would give us more pleasure than to see Ken Ramsey achieve his lifelong dream of a Royal Ascot winner. We were lucky enough to have runners from Todd Pletcher’s US stable last year and further ground would be broken if we were able to welcome Steve Asmussen with a runner this time round.

“Interestingly, the winners of all eight thoroughbred races on Dubai World Cup night are entered at Royal Ascot, highlighting the increasing international pull of the Royal Meeting.”

The Battle of the Clerk Vs The PA - less than 2 weeks to go

It’s less than 2 weeks to go now until our Clerk of the Course, Chris Stickels will race against his PA, Beccy Green, for the ‘The Racing to School Frankel Challenge Trophy’ on Wednesday 2nd May.

Here is an update from the duo:

Both Chris and Beccy - along with some other members of the Ascot team - went over to Ireland at the start of the week to promote Royal Ascot to the Flat trainers. This was a huge success but the charity race was constantly at the back of their minds – the pressure is mounting.

Beccy stepped up her training when she had a 1 to 1 session with jockey, Tommy Stack, who rode Red Rum to his third victory in the Grand National whilst in Ireland.

Chris had a training session with Newmarket Racing School yesterday to check he is safe to ride on the 2^nd May and fortunately he passed – great news!

They are both continuing to ride out in the early mornings, getting in as much practice in as possible before the big day. Beccy is going to Garry Moore’s yard tomorrow, though last time she was there, she let a 2 year old loose on the picking ground, we’re hoping for no more dramas on her return.

We still don’t have final confirmation of the horses that Chris and Beccy will be racing on but we’re hoping to announce next week. Follow us @AscotInsider on twitter to be the first to know.

Chris and Beccy have now raised 79% of their fundraising total, for BHEST Racing to School, British horseracing’s free education programme that aims to engage pupils of all backgrounds and ages in the UK by running a wide range of learning activities. They are well on their way to reaching the target of £4000. If you would like to help them reach this target, visit their Just Giving Page.

To witness their battle on Wednesday 2nd May, tickets start from £13.50 in advance for Premier Admission. Grandstand Admission has now Sold Out. To book call 0844 346 3000 or visit ascot.co.uk. 

The Battle of the Clerk Vs The PA - 3 weeks to go

It’s now only 3 weeks to go until our Clerk of the Course, Chris Stickels will race against his PA, Beccy Green, for the ‘The Racing to School Frankel Challenge Trophy’ on Wednesday 2nd May.




Here is an update from the duo:

We hope Beccy realises it's a Flat race!

Chris Stickels


Chris is currently on holiday skiing so his weight could be interesting on his return – particularly after all the après ski. Competition remains fierce as Beccy hopes Chris will return with a broken leg or arm! (We're sure she's only joking.)

 

Beccy Green

Over an egg free Easter, Beccy trained at Gary Moore’s yard in Horsham, riding out on Saturday and Monday despite the miserable weather. She is still being very secretive about her horse but hopefully by the next update we will have a name.

We must not forget that Chris and Beccy are doing this for a very worthy cause and have already raised £2,915.00 which is 72% of their target. If you would like to help them reach their target of £4,000 visit their Just Giving page.

To witness their battle on Wednesday 2nd May, tickets start from £13.50 in advance for Premier Admission. Grandstand Admission has now Sold Out. To book call 0844 346 3000 or visit ascot.co.uk.

2012 Prize Money At Royal Ascot Increased To £4,500,000

Ascot Racecourse announces today that the Total Prize Fund for this year’s Royal Meeting will be £4,500,000, an increase of £715,000 on 2011 values.

The Prince of Wales’s Stakes, being run this year as “The 150th Anniversary of The Prince Of Wales’s Stakes,” and The Diamond Jubilee Stakes, will both be run for £500,000, an increase of £100,000 in each instance.

The Queen Anne Stakes, Gold Cup and King’s Stand Stakes will be worth £350,000 this year, representing increases of £100,000 for the first two named and £50,000 for the latter.

The Hardwicke Stakes has doubled in value to £200,000 and there will be no penalties to be carried by Group One or Group Two winners this year.

The King Edward VII Stakes will be run for £150,000 (£140,000 in 2011); The Ribblesdale Stakes will be run for £125,000 (£100,000 in 2011); The Wokingham and Royal Hunt Cup will be run for £125,000 (£100,000 in 2011); The Buckingham Palace will be run for £75,000 (£50,000 in 2011) and The Duke of Edinburgh will be run for £70,000 (£50,000 in 2011).

In addition, £5,000 has been added to the value of seven races previously run for £50,000, to increase the minimum prize money at the meeting to £55,000.

Charles Barnett, Chief Executive at Ascot, said:

“In an increasingly competitive international environment, it is crucial for Europe’s flagship race meeting to invest in prize money and we are delighted to announce a near 20% increase on last year’s Total Prize Fund in this respect.

“At Group One level, we have increased the value of the races which historically attract interest from around the world and those that we feel have the most scope to do so in the future.

“The Hardwicke is a race that we are very keen to build as it comfortably achieves Group One ratings on a regular basis. In order to attract Group One and Group Two winners further, the penalties have been removed and the race has doubled in value.

“Ensuring that the whole Royal Ascot programme on a domestic level moves forward is as important as investing in the Pattern races, and we have increased the value of several handicaps, including the flagship Royal Hunt Cup and Wokingham.”

The Royal Ascot Group One races close on Tuesday, April 24.

Further Information:

Charles Barnett: Chief Executive, 01344 878501

Nick Smith: Head of Communications, 07771 791449

The Battle of the Clerk Vs the PA – who will win?

One month from today two Ascot members of staff will go head to head on the race track in a bid to raise money for BHEST (British Horseracing Education & Standards Trust).

Our Clerk of the Course, Chris Stickels will race against his PA, Beccy Green, the duo will compete against other aspiring jockeys for the ‘The Racing to School Frankel Challenge Trophy’ on Wednesday 2nd May.

BHEST is a Racing to School charity, British horseracing’s free education programme that aims to engage pupils of all backgrounds and ages in the UK by running a wide range of learning activities.

The rivalry is already fierce in the office, so we're looking forward to a thrilling race on 2nd May, at the Moss Bros Free Raceday.

Learn a little more about these two aspiring jockeys:

Chris – Clerk of the Course

Age: 42
Height: 5ft 7 (May not be exact!)
Weight: 11 stone (May not be exact!)
Name of horse: Not confirmed but it might be Mahadee
Training regime: Ride out twice a week in the mornings and ride either Big Bucks or Yeats aka the equicizers once a week.
Favourite food: A good old fashioned Sunday Roast
Favourite racing hero: Big Bucks
Previous experience: Not ridden in a charity race before
Chance of winning the race: Outside chance
Will you beat Beccy? Of course.

Beccy – PA to the Clerk of the Course

Age: 32
Height: 5ft 9
Weight: Not telling!
Name of horse: This information is top secret at the moment but I will reveal all in a couple of weeks.
Training regime: Occasionally will go for run but probably more like a walk! Ride out 3 times a week early in the morning and ride Big Bucks or Yeats aka the equicizers 2 to 3 times a week
Favourite food: Grapes i.e. Wine
Favourite racing hero: My own horse, Another General.
Previous experience: Ridden in 3 charity races before, came 2nd, 3rd and 5th. I just haven’t won yet.
Chances of winning the race: Well occasionally 100 to 1 are winners! 
Will you beat Chris? Will try even if it kills me.

Follow their training on @AscotInsider over the next month until their big day, when we’ll see who will win the battle of, the Clerk V the PA.

To witness their battle, tickets start from £13.50 in advance for Premier Admission. Grandstand Admission has now Sold Out. To book call 0844 346 3000 or visit ascot.co.uk.

If you would like to make their early mornings and mileage to ride out worth their efforts, you can donate by visiting their Just Giving Page.

“Girl Power” at the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup

North American stars Chantal Sutherland and Emma-Jayne Wilson will join Britain’s best female Flat jockey, Hayley Turner, to form the first ever female team at the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup at Ascot on Saturday, August 11.

They will ride against three male teams, representing Great Britain & Ireland, Europe and the Rest of the World in the world’s premier international jockeys’ competition.
Turner has become a regular fixture at the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup, taking part every year since 2006 and captaining the Great Britain team from 2008-2010, while Emma-Jayne Wilson is the only other female to have taken part in the competition as part of the Rest of the World Team in 2006, when the competition had a two-team format.

“The Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup has regularly reinvented itself and we thought that the time was right to break new ground by seeing how three of the most successful female riders of all time can fare against three teams made up of some of world’s top male jockeys,” said Ascot spokesman, Nick Smith.

Hayley Turner, who will captain the female team, said: “The three of us rode against each other in the Pimlico Female Jockey Challenge in the USA last year and I told Ascot straight afterwards that if there was ever an all girls’ team at the Shergar Cup, we’d definitely be keen to take part.

“I’m thrilled that it’s going ahead and having been with Chantal in Dubai last week, I can tell you that we’re both really up for putting one over on the boys on August 11 and I know Emma-Jayne will be too!”

Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice-Chairman of Dubai Duty Free, commented: “We are delighted at the way the teams are shaping up for this year’s Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup.

“The event continues to find ways to reach out to new audiences and I am sure the opportunity to see some of the world’s top female riders in action will add an entirely new dimension to the international media coverage, further raising the profile of this unique raceday.”

The riders in the male teams will be announced in due course, but one jockey gets an automatic invitation as a result of winning Dubai Duty Free’s big sponsored race on Dubai World Cup Night.  James Doyle scored a stunning success on Cityscape in the Dubai Duty Free, a Group One race over nine furlongs, and will be invited to make his Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup debut for the Great Britain & Ireland team.

The format of the event stays the same, with four teams of three jockeys taking part across six races, each with ten runners.  Every jockey has five rides and points are awarded on a 15-10-7-5-3 basis to the first five jockeys to finish in each race. The team with the highest total after the sixth race lifts the Shergar Cup and the jockey with the highest individual score wins the Silver Saddle trophy.

The “Girl Power” theme continues in the post-racing concert, when some of the top female acts from the 1980s will appear live on stage at Ascot.  They include Bananarama, who with 30 Top 40 hits remain the Guinness Book of Records’ most successful girl band of all time, Carol Decker, who fronted the rock band T’Pau, Katrina Leskanich, former lead singer of Katrina and The Waves, and solo artist Belinda Carlisle.

Midge Ure, the former front man of “Ultravox”, Howard Jones and Rick Astley are the male stars from the ‘80s who will be performing.

Tickets for the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup on Saturday, August 11, including the “Here and Now” concert, start from £26. To book call 0844 346 3000 or visit www.ascot.co.uk 

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Nick Smith, Head of Communications & International Racing, Ascot Racecourse, 07771 791 449

BIOGRAPHIES

Chantal Sutherland

Born on February 23, 1976 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Chantal Sutherland is a leading jockey in both her homeland and the USA. She grew up in Ontario, where her father owns a horse farm. Although she competed in showjumping and dressage during her youth and was also an accomplished field hockey player (competing for Canada’s national Junior World Cup team), she did not decide to embark on a career as a jockey until her graduation from York University in Toronto, where she gained a degree in communications and psychology. After an initial success at Woodbine on October 9, 2000, Sutherland quickly established herself as one of the brightest young talents in North American racing and gained the Sovereign Award for Canada’s top apprentice jockey in 2001 and 2002. The 2002 campaign ended with Sutherland finishing third in the standings at Woodbine with 124 wins. In the winter of 2004, she made the move across the border to the USA and rode at Laurel Park in Maryland before moving on to ride in Florida and New York. During her time in New York, where she rode for leading trainers H Allen Jerkens and Todd Pletcher, she enjoyed success at Grade Three level on Smokume in the Tom Fool Handicap and on Gigawatt in the Miami Mile Handicap. After a return to Canada in 2007, she made the move to Santa Anita, California, where she was dubbed “Queen of the longshots” by US Racing Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens. In 2008, she was back in Canada and on August 9 rode five winners in a day. That same season also saw Sutherland partner future Kentucky Derby hero Mine That Bird to three stakes race successes at Woodbine. Sutherland currently splits her time between riding at Santa Anita in the winter and the rest of the year at Woodbine. The best horse Sutherland has ridden is Game On Dude. In 2011, she partnered the Bob Baffert-trained gelding to victory in the Grade One Santa Anita Handicap, becoming the first female jockey to win the historic contest. Last year Game On Dude also finished runner-up under Sutherland in the Grace One Hollywood Gold Cup and the Breeders’ Cup Classic. The winner of the Breeders’ Cup Classic, Drosselmeyer, ironically was ridden by her ex-boyfriend Mike Smith. Game On Dude also enabled Sutherland to become the first woman to ride in the world’s richest race, the Dubai World Cup, at Meydan in March, 2012. The pair finished 12th. Sutherland is also a well-known celebrity off the track. She starred in the reality series “Jockeys” on Animal Planet and also had a recurring role in the HBO TV series “Luck”. She has also modelled and is the face of Canada-based cosmetics line Mistura Beauty. As of April 1, 2012, Sutherland has ridden 908 career winners with earning of $45,615,891. She will be making her Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup debut in 2012.

Hayley Turner

Hayley Turner, the joint champion UK apprentice jockey in 2005, is generally acknowledged as the most successful female rider to emerge in the 400-year history of the Sport of Kings in Britain. Born on January 3, 1983, in Nottingham, Turner was taught to ride by her mother, a riding instructor. She started riding out for trainer Mark Polglase, who supplied her first winner, Generate, at Pontefract on June 4, 2000. She also attended the Northern Racing College, and then was apprenticed to Michael Bell in Newmarket. Turner became the first woman to be crowned champion apprentice when partnering 44 winners during the 2005 Flat (turf) season, sharing the title with Saleem Golam. She also became only the fourth woman in Britain to ride out her claim, following Emma O'Gorman, Alex Greaves and Lisa Jones. Her success during the 2005 season led to Turner being awarded a Lester for apprentice jockey of the year, the first woman ever to land the award. Turner’s first Group One victory came in July, 2011 aboard Dream Ahead in the Darley July Cup at Newmarket and she enjoyed further Group One success as Margot Did captured the Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes at York the following month. She is only the second woman to have ridden a Group One winner in Britain and the first to win one outright as Alex Greaves’ success came when her mount Ya Malak dead-heated with Coastal Bluff for the 1997 Nunthorpe Stakes. In 2008, she became the first female jockey to partner 100 winners in a calendar year in Britain. Turner was forced to miss four months of the 2009 Flat season after an incident on the Newmarket gallops that March, when catapulted from the horse she was riding and knocked unconscious. Turner's injuries - bruising to the brain - were originally considered serious enough that her licence was suspended for a year. However, following an appeal hearing at the BHA in July, she was declared fit to resume race riding and was back in action at Ascot the following day. She has ridden at the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup on six occasions (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011) and captained the GBR team in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Turner has recorded four wins in the competition and was runner-up to Hugh Bowman in the 2007 Silver Saddle Standings.

Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Wins: 2007 Relative Order; 2008 Gee Dee Nen; 2009 Noverre To Go; 2010 Yorgunnabelucky

Emma-Jayne Wilson

Born on September 1, 1981, in Brampton, Ontario, Emma-Jayne Wilson is a riding phenomenon from Canada, with nearly 1,000 wins to her name. She burst onto the North American racing scene in 2005 when landing the riding title at Woodbine. At its 167-day meet, Wilson rode 175 winners from 1,096 mounts, becoming the first female to take the title in its 50-year history, and only the third ever apprentice to do so, following Sandy Hawley in 1969 and Mickey Walls in 1991. Wilson started riding at the age of nine and soon had her heart set on becoming a jockey. She studied equine management at the University of Guelph and spent two years riding out at Woodbine racecourse, where she caught the eye of leading agent Mike Luider. She rode her first winner on only her second ride - a horse called Ali Olah at Fort Erie, on August 28, 2004, and enjoyed an annus mirabilis in her first full season as an apprentice, recording a first Stakes victory on board Classic Stamp in the Grade Two Bell Canadian Stakes to go with her leading jockey title at Woodbine. Her achievements on the racetrack were rewarded with a Sovereign Award for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey and an Eclipse Award for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey in North America - becoming only the second woman ever to land the apprentice Eclipse award. Wilson retained her leading jockeys’ title at Woodbine in 2006 and received a second Sovereign Award for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey. She became the first female rider to win the Grade One Queen’s Plate, part of Canada’s Triple Crown, when scoring on board Mike Fox in June, 2006. Wilson competed in the Hong Kong International Jockey Challenge in December, 2007, and was granted a licence to ride in the former colony the following winter. Wilson made an impressive debut at the Breeders’ Cup in November, 2011, as she rode Excaper to finish second behind the Wrote in the Grade One Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf. As of April 1, 2012, she has recorded 927 wins in her career with prize money win of more than US$44 million. Wilson, who won the inaugural Pimlico Female Jockey Challenge in June, 2011, is making her second appearance at the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup, having participated in the competition in 2006.