Local Turkish team prevails in International Jockeys Challenge

Local Turkish team prevails in International Jockeys

Challenge

Veliefendi racecourse in Istanbul hosted its third International Jockeys

Challenge and despite the participation of five big-race foreign jockeys, the

local team scored a resounding success.

It was Turkey that got off to a winning start in the four-race challenge. The

two visiting riders who had attracted most attention ahead of this event,

Olivier Peslier and Johnny Murtagh, failed to contribute any points to the

International score as Ahmet Celik drove home to win the 1900 meter conditions

race with ease. Panamanian-born German champion, Eddie Pedroza, came in two

lengths back with Akin Sozen a further length away in third.

There was even more to cheer about on the domestic front a half-hour later as

the in-form Halis Karatas drove home with a late charge, followed by Celik 2 1/2

lengths behind. Neil Callan finished third and Murtagh, who encountered a

traffic problem in the straight, was unlucky not to finish better than fourth.

Peslier, who had failed to score in the previous two legs, was not to get the

opportunity in the 3RD race, falling victim to a late withdrawal. To make things

harder for the tourists, not one of the visiting jockeys had managed to score

points in either of the first two races.

The third contest again went the way of the home team with Sozen scoring an

emphatic victory in the 1300 meter turf sprint. Entering the straight it was an

open contest but despite the best efforts of Pedroza, he was unable to catch

Sozen or the fast-finishing Selim Kaya.

Coming into the final race Turkey had an unassailable lead in the team

category. The only non-domestic rider who could have lifted the individual crown

was Pedroza but he did not have a ride.

Callan, who came into this meeting with an impressive strike rate of 33

percent, was to leave with his reputation untarnished however. He swept to an

impressive victory in the 1500 meter event on Polytrack, leaving Peslier to grab

his first real points of the competition, snatching fifth-place.

"The trainer gave me great confidence. The horse won well. It was a great

success," Callan said of the lone International win. "We've been well looked

after and it's nice to keep my strike rate intact! It's a great honor to be

invited and, if asked again, I'd be delighted to come back."

After the four-race challenge the Turkish team scored their first victory in

the three years of the event's existence, winning by 115 points to 69, and

similarly took the individual title with 24 year-old Sozen just edging out his

contemporary Celik by two points.