Flores flies to finish best of rest

The third staging of the Shergar Cup brought racing to a new public at Ascot yesterday but the eternal verities of backing a good horse with a decent jockey on board stood the test of time. The cup, framed as a challenge between jockeys representing Great Britain & Ireland and those from territories to be known as "The Rest of the World", confirmed nothing less than the permanent class of top-class riders, from wherever they may come.

Though each rider was allotted his horse by ballot – rather than the usual procedure of being chosen by trainer or owner (just by the trainer in the main) – you could probably have put the winning jockeys on Weston-super-Mare donkeys and still got a result. Michael Kinane and Pat Eddery were among the victors. So too was Gérald Mossé, who has enjoyed much success in France with the Aga Khan. But the most eye-catching rides of the day came from the Mexican-American jockey David Flores, who had two winners on his first visit to Britain, and from the 22-year-old Italian Mirco Demuro.

The world may have been made aware last week of an Italian doctor's intention to clone human beings, but it would appear that they may been at it a long time already, with Demuro clearly more than just a chip off the old Frankie Dettori block. Demuro has been Italian champion jockey for the last four seasons and his consistency here, with three seconds, on Smart Ridge, Ghazal, and First Ballot, may well have alerted British trainers to his talents.

The focus on the jockeys, after the first two Shergar Cups had mistakenly tried to get the public to empathise with rich owners, at least brought some sort of coherence to an event that has been in prime position in the coconut shy over the past two summers. As the event has boasted coloured breeches and caps for the jockeys, team captains ranging from Sheikh Mohammed, Kevin Keegan and even yesterday's Brit "supremo" Vinnie Jones, and an abstruse scoring system, some of the ridicule has been deserved. Indeed, normal racegoers yesterday would have found an additional moan on the agenda, with most of the six races framed as 10-runner handicaps, making each-way value a foreign concept.

While the domestic line-up of jockeys was familiar – although it should have been correctly termed "Ireland & Great Britain", given that only Kevin Darley was English – the "Rest of the World" looked flaky apart from Frankie.

Two jockeys who had recently split with their patrons, an American-based rider with only one ride at Newmarket on Friday night for English experience, the baby Italian, the older Italian and a Japanese jockey who was not Yutaka Take.

Apart from the threat from Dettori, it looked as though it would be a shoo-in for the home squad, but the very first race not only delivered a crowd-pleasing finish, but confirmed that a genuine contest was at hand. Michael Kinane drove home Persiano, but he was pushed to the wire by Demuro on Smart Ridge, with Dettori a close third on Free Rider.

But it was in the second race, where the 33-year-old Flores excelled, that battle was enjoined. Flores, who rides for Godolphin in the US eased Steenberg past Prince Domino at the two-furlong pole and brought the son of Flying Spur with a hands-and-heels ride to win the juvenile. "He only had to steer it," trainer Mark Tompkins joked, but Flores took the occasion with due solemnity. "It's a great honour to be riding here and I really enjoyed that." Steenberg, bought cheaply for 12,000 guineas, may next take up his entry in the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket in October.

The two "teams" swapped winners again, as Mossé on Flying Millie just pipped Demuro on Ghazal in the Distaff, before Eddery brought John Jenkins' 14-1 chance Moon Emperor with a late run on the outside to deny Demuro yet again. The winner will now go for the Ebor at York a week next Wednesday, then possibly the Melbourne Cup.

For those who were actually interested in the on-going score – and they seemed to be an elusive minority – it stood at 80 points all at this point. But then the sun had just broken through and the young City-types and their partners, who formed a sizeable part of the 19,356 crowd, were more interested in the champagne marquee in the paddock and getting a place for the post-race concert by Morcheeba.

A Jenkins double was completed in the fifth race when Richard Hughes on Thundering Surf worked up enough pace to see off Flores on Mana D'Argent. But the US rider had the last word, bringing Orientor round the field to win the richest race of the day, the Sprint, which gave him the individual trophy with 45 points and also edged the Rest of the World team to a win by 125-115.