- Jockey lost mount on fancied John Leeper to Frankie Dettori
- Favourite Bolshoi Ballet hugely disappointing in Classic
Adam Kirby’s gaunt features tell the story of his constant battle with scales to pursue his career as a rider on the Flat, and his voice was close to cracking with emotion as he talked through his winning ride on Adayar in the Derby here on Saturday. “I’m not really a person to get overly excited about things but I was then, it was a real buzz,” he said. “I hope my kids were watching. At least they know that when people call daddy an all-weather jockey, he’s not an all-weather jockey.”
He had every right to feel a little dazed after Adayar’s smooth four-and-a-half length defeat of 50-1 outsider Mojo Star, with the winner’s better-fancied stable companion, Hurricane Lane, back in third. Until Wednesday evening, after all, he had expected to be riding John Leeper for Ed Dunlop, a horse with a much better chance on paper than Adayar, who was the apparent third-string in Charlie Appleby’s Derby team.
