Ben Linfoot on Cazoo Derby day as Adam Kirby has his day in the sun on Adayar
Master ride proves Kirby's worth
Adam Kirby had only ridden in the Derby once before. He broke from stall one in the Godolphin red cap on Dubai Thunder and held him up in the rear of mid division. He finished 11th.
That was in 2017 and he was without a ride in one of the world’s greatest races over the next three years. So when he was ‘jocked off’ the well-fancied John Leeper, whose connections couldn’t resist the lure of Frankie Dettori when he became available on the eve of declarations, it felt like a cruel blow for the 32-year-old from Newmarket.
But sometimes these things just work out, don’t they? His second Derby ride did come along in the 2021 renewal in the end, after doing a bit of ‘jocking off’ himself with the champion Oisin Murphy, no less, losing out, the reciprocal loyalty between Kirby and Charlie Appleby bearing fruit for both.
ADAYAR is the 242nd Derby winner. A first for Kirby, a second for Appleby, a second official one for Godolphin and a first for Frankel, too, who also sired the third, Hurricane Lane, as well, a stablemate of the winner.
But this was about the jockey and you can go right back to the start for the most crucial part of the race.
We know how difficult it is to win the Derby from stall one – Kieren Fallon, the king of Epsom, was the last to win from there on Oath in 1999 – but this was a ride right from the playbook of Fallon and Lester Piggott and Kirby was ice cool in those early exchanges.
As they went uphill right-handed in the first couple of furlongs Kirby smoothly eased Adayar into a prominent role and as they came back across to the left-hand turn he had assumed ‘the Lester position’ just off the leaders in third on the rail.
That’s where Ryan Moore wanted to be on hot favourite Bolshoi Ballet, but he was three wide on the outside and never recovered from losing so much ground. Kirby, paint scraping, was in the dream spot and if you didn’t know he was on a 16/1 outsider, beaten in two Derby trials this spring, you’d pick him out in-running in an instant.
The hard part done, Adayar was getting the perfect run through as Gear Up took them along and there was just the briefest of moments after Tattenham Corner where it looked like the eventual winner might be thwarted by a maroon and yellow-striped door closing in front of him.
But as soon as the gap opened up it was all over. Adayar by four and a half lengths. I’m sure Kirby shouted ‘thank you!’ moments after passing the post and he certainly saluted the 4000 present with a kiss of the finger celebration, Dettori-esque, ironically, who coasted over the line in 9th on John Leeper.
In baking sunshine, in stark contrast to the damp, miserable and unexpected weather that was the backdrop for Oaks day, the beaten horses were cooled down with water from the red tote buckets as Kirby soaked it all up.
Arms aloft, a punch of the air, the warmest of receptions, it seemed like the whole weighing room were out applauding him back in, one of their own.
“He’s a natural horseman,” said Appleby afterwards, praising his jockey. “You can put him on every type of horse. He can settle horses. When I first took out the licence Adam rode winners for us very early on. I’m delighted he’s part of the team.”
Kirby’s record for Appleby now stands at 103 winners from 340 runners at a win strike-rate of 30%. It’s difficult to find a bad Charlie Appleby statistic, but, even so, those are incredible numbers taking into account how often he’s not on the most fancied stable representative.
And what of that jockey merry-go-round?
“It worked out great I lost the ride on him,” Kirby said in the press conference, when discussing the John Leeper blow at length. “I’m not a person that gets overly excited about things but I was excited about that.”
Kirby went onto describe himself as a “run of the mill jockey” before saying “I’m not very good at interviews” and referencing criticism that saw him pigeon-holed as ”just an all-weather rider”.
None of the aforementioned are true. Well, maybe the interviews. But he also went onto to say “you can’t win these big races unless you’re in them, for starters.” So true.
Adam Kirby was only riding in the Derby for the second time. He broke from stall one in the Godolphin red cap on Adayar and gave him an absolute peach of a ride. He finished first.
Oisin Murphy's brilliant commentary of the Cazoo Derby: As it happened! - In association with World Horse Racing
Derby Day Eyecatchers
THIRD REALM 5th – Cazoo Derby (4.30)
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The Derby debrief now begins and the age-old question of whether this was a good renewal will be asked throughout the summer. Only going into the autumn will we really know.
It looked a good race beforehand and of all the promising horses that went into it the one that really enhanced his reputation in defeat for my money was fifth home THIRD REALM.
He beat Adayar in the Lingfield Derby Trial and was drawn in stall two – even more difficult than stall one according to history (no winners) – but he did tremendously well to finish where he did after being keen early.
An early bump didn’t aid his cause, either, but he rallied in the closing stages after being outpaced three out and he’s well worth keeping the faith in.
Given his breeding – he’s related to Cape Byron and Ostilio who thrived over much shorter – and the way he ran with the choke out early, he could be interesting if dropping back to 10 furlongs.
Wherever Roger Varian sends him, he’ll be one that I’m hoping will help prove the 2021 Derby crop was an above average bunch.
KING FRANKEL 2nd – World Pool At The tote Handicap (2.00)
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It was a thrilling opener to Derby day and Solent Gateway was a deserved winner for Hayley Turner and Tom Dascombe, travelling best with nowhere to go at one stage before his jockey navigated a winning path. That was Dascombe’s first ever winner at Epsom on his 43rd go, completing the set of having a victory at every UK Flat track, so nobody would deny him that.
But Mark Johnston’s KING FRANKEL caught the eye in a big way in second. He struggled to go the pace at a very early stage and had to be nudged and cajoled into contention by Ben Curtis, but once he found his stride late in proceedings he motored home to be denied by a nose.
Johnston said: “It was fantastic how well he finished and it will be Royal Ascot next stop. He'll have entries in both the mile-and-a-quarter and the mile-and-a-half handicaps, and we'll choose between the two."
This was a boost for the Bay Bridge form – a horse who will likely have bigger fish to fry at Royal Ascot – but King Frankel’s name has to be already on the shortlist for his still-to-be nominated handicap at the big meeting in a few weeks’ time.
NAZUNA – 2nd Princess Elizabeth Stakes (2.35)
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Roger Varian’s Greatgadian was the horse that was swamped late on by Solent Gateway and King Frankel in the first and he had to settle for minor honours again in the Group 3 Princess Elizabeth Stakes over the extended mile as NAZUNA chased home Parent’s Prayer.
The daughter of Kodiac was no match for the winner but this was a very encouraging effort on her seasonal reappearance, as she was fresh and keen after jumping alertly but she kept on well to beat the rest decisively with the promise of more to come.
This was proof she’s trained on well and with this under her belt she’s a major player at this sort of level with the Valiant Stakes at Ascot next month, won last year by Lady Bowthorpe in its traditional slot at the end of July, a potential option for her.
The stiff mile at Ascot could be a nice stepping stone, with Varian suggesting afterwards that he’ll keep her over a mile for now before potentially stepping up in trip to 10 furlongs later in the campaign.
MONDAMMEJ – 4th World Pool Dash (3.45)
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There weren’t a plethora of hard-luck stories in the Dash for once but a couple racing towards the stands’ side caught the eye.
Stone Of Destiny was one of them – of course he was – as he always travels well and he finished with a flourish for third, but the effort of MONDAMMEJ is worth noting for the future.
He too was going easily at halfway in the rear on the stands’ side as most of the rest of the field were been ridden hard and it was a good effort to make up his ground for fourth as he fought against the camber.
Well backed all day, Anthony Brittain looks to have a useful handicap sprinter on his hands and off his current mark in the high 80s it would be no surprise to see him win soon on a more conventional track.
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