Tis Marvellous got the Rest of the World team and Danish jockey Kevin Stott off to a flying start with a narrow victory in the opening race of the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup at Ascot

The Clive Cox-trained gelding was a 9-2 joint-favourite to record a second win in the five-furlong Shergar Cup Dash, having struck gold for Hollie Doyle and the Ladies Team in 2018.

After tracking the pace-setting King Of Stars for much of the race on the far side of the track, Tis Marvellous moved powerfully to the lead inside the final two furlongs and briefly looked set to score decisively.

However, both 6-1 shot Desert Safari and the other joint-favourite Magical Spirit flashed home in the group that raced nearer the stands side, and there was little to choose between the trio passing the post.

After a brief wait, the judge confirmed Tis Marvellous had held on by a short head from Desert Safari, with Magical Spirit the same distance further away in third.

Stott said: “I thought I would try to get a nice lead and see if he (King Of Stars) could take me there, and he took me the furthest.

“I sat on him as long as possible. He’s a gentleman of a horse who made my job easy on that nice, soft ground.”

Cox was delighted to saddle a winner, saying: “We’ve been lucky at this meeting, many times. It’s a fun day, and as long as the owners are behind and enjoy it, that’s what it is all about. It’s good prize-money – what’s not to like?”

Just Hubert led home a one-two for the Ladies Team in the Shergar Cup Stayers.

Ridden by Nicola Currie, 11-1 shot Just Hubert raced on the pace throughout the two-mile contest.

The five-year-old was strongly pressed in the final furlong by the hat-trick seeking Call My Bluff – on whom Currie’s French team-mate Mickaelle Michel was closing all the time, but William Muir and Chris Grassick’s charge clung on by a short head.

“I decided to try to make it into a test of stamina from the turn for home, and throughout the race the more I tried to take a pull the quicker he went,” said Currie.

“There’s a great buzz in the weighing room, and everyone is right behind it.”

Currie came close to completing a double in the following Shergar Cup Challenge, but was narrowly denied by Ireland’s David Egan and 18-1 shot Graphite.

Terry Kent’s grey went by the Currie-ridden HMS President – but the latter fought back admirably, and there was just a head between the pair at the line.

Egan said: “I’m pleased for the fact we needed the points, but just as much for Terry Kent. He was assistant to Roger Varian, who I’ve ridden for for a long time.

“As a boy, I grew up watching the big overseas jockeys ride in the Shergar Cup. My horse was very brave, and it means a lot to me.

“Looking up at the crowds there, it’s fantastic to see. Ascot, although it’s about great horses, it’s also about the great crowds, and at least we’ve got them back.”

Shergar Cup debutant Cieren Fallon claimed a first winner on the afternoon for Britain in the Mile, with Dashing Roger coming out on top.

Fallon, whose father Kieren won the Alistair Haggis Silver Saddle as the event’s leading rider in 2003 and was on the winning team in 2001 and 2002, drove William Stone’s 5-1 chance to a one-and-three-quarter-length success over Young Fire.

“I was on the best horse in the race,” he said.

“He broke well and gained a comfortable position – and when I gave him a squeeze he really picked up, putting the race to bed in a matter of strides.

“He was off a low mark at the start of the year, and hasn’t stopped improving.

“It’s good that David and I have each ridden a winner, because we go back a long way.”

Currie notched her second winner aboard State Of Bliss in the Shergar Cup Classic, a victory which confirmed she would take the Alistair Haggis “Silver Saddle” Trophy as the day’s leading rider.

Star Caliber led his rivals a merry dance for much of the race, but was beginning to tire inside the final two furlongs and ultimately faded.

Mark Johnston’s 9-2 shot State Of Bliss stayed on best under the Currie drive to prevail by three and three-quarter lengths, with his stablemate Annandale beating 100-30 favourite Star Caliber to the runner-up spot.

Currie said: “It’s been a fantastic day, and this horse is a typical Johnston straightforward ride

“They went a really hard gallop, and my job was to fill him up because I knew he would keep finding. I wanted to get him rolling, and he got better and better as the race developed.”

The Irish team dominated in the concluding Shergar Cup Sprint, with team captain Joe Fanning and Mitrosonfire (17-2) pipping Crazy Luck and team-mate Tadhg O’Shea to top honours.

The victory completed a double on the day for the Muir-Grassick training combination, while Currie’s third place aboard Royal Scimitar confirmed the Ladies team as the overall winners of the Shergar Cup.

Fanning said: “I had to come from further back than I wanted, but he kept going for me.”