Currie delight at Silver Saddle award

Jockey stars on Just Hubert and State Of Bliss for Ladies team.

Nicola Currie was delighted after an Ascot double helped her claim the Alistair Haggis Silver Saddle award in the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup.

Making her debut in the competition, the Scottish rider was joined by Shergar Cup regular Hayley Turner and French jockey Mickaelle Michel in a strong-looking Ladies team.

Currie first struck gold aboard 11-1 shot Just Hubert in the Shergar Cup Stayers, for the training team of William Muir and Chris Grassick.

She was beaten just a head into second place on HMS President in the following Shergar Cup Challenge, before getting back in the number one spot courtesy of the Mark Johnston-trained State Of Bliss (9-2) in the Shergar Cup Classic.

Currie ended the day on 47 points overall, a tally which helped the Ladies secure victory in the team competition.

“What a day – it’s unbelievable to win the Silver Saddle,” she said.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet. I was hoping I might nick one today or the team could win on points, but to have a double is unbelievable.

“I thought this leading jockey’s armband would be harder to keep than a driver’s licence!”

Currie hopes her achievement will help take her riding career to the next level.

She added: “I really hope so. It’s tough for everybody, especially at the minute – there are so many jockeys and so many good jockeys out there.

“You need a few winners to get the flag going again, and this is really going to help. I want to keep the ball rolling.

“I don’t want to just sit on the sidelines and do it just to get by. I want to make a good go of it, so hopefully this can pick things back up again.”

Ireland’s David Egan was second on the rider’s list with 29 points, and his team-mate Joe Fanning shared third place with the British pair of James Doyle and Cieren Fallon – all on 27 points.

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