South African jockey Gavin Lerena has played a starring role with a double to help the Rest of the World team to victory in the Shergar Cup at Ascot.
In a competition that went down to the wire, the trio captained by champion jockey Silvestre De Sousa ended the afternoon with 68 points, narrowly ahead of Europe with 65.
A winner for Hayley Turner helped last year’s winners, the Girls team, to a total of 54, with the Great Britain and Ireland side a point behind on 53.
Lerena struck first aboard the Amanda Perrett-trained 25-1 shot Arch Villain in the Shergar Cup Stayers, before completing his brace on Danehill Kodiac (10-1) in the Classic for trainer Richard Hannon.
“It has been a fantastic day. It is a dream come true,” Lerena said.
“The world is our oyster and I am just enjoying every minute. I love my job and it is amazing riding winners.
“We are here for another week, so we are going to head out to Newmarket and visit the Mike de Kock team, Sean Woods and a couple of friends.
“I am hoping that I might get a couple of rides – that is why we are hanging around – and it would be fantastic if I could maybe get a ride at Newmarket.
“I’d love to come back to Britain again and if I have the right opportunity, I will grab it with both hands.”
While out of the winners, De Sousa and Japan’s Kenichi Ikezoe contributed 13 and 25 points respectively with their placed efforts.
“We had some great riders on our team and it’s great to win,” de Sousa said.
“I’d definitely like to ride in the Shergar Cup again – it’s good fun.”
