Kia Joorabchian insists jockey David Egan remains a key part of his Amo Racing operation after playing down rumours of his resignation from the organisation.
Word began circulating earlier this week that Egan, who has been number one rider to Amo Racing since 2023, had stepped down from his role after he appeared to be replaced aboard the operation’s two winners at the Curragh on Sunday by Rossa Ryan.
And following the initial rumblings, which surfaced firstly on the Nick Luck Daily Podcast on Tuesday, and in an article in the Daily Mail on the same day, it was then reported by the Racing Post that Amo Racing was set to adopt a best available policy for the big races.
However, Joorabchian confirmed at Ascot on Friday that the 27-year-old, who has twice had his contract extended to be Amo Racing's number one rider at the start of 2025 through to 2026, and then again in October 2025 through to 2028, remains integral to the group.
Joorabchian said: “There has been nothing going on. Rossa Ryan (former number one to Amo Racing) has ridden for us this year, Kevin Stott (former number one to Amo Racing) has ridden for us this year.
"We have got two retained jockeys in Rowan (Scott) and David. I’ve never seen an email, or a piece of paper go through, saying we are going to adopt a policy of best available.
"David is a part of Amo Racing, Rowan is a part of Amo Racing, and everyone else that is there is a part of Amo Racing. Everyone wants to speculate. It sounds like everyone wants to create a story, and I get it as I’m in football and I know exactly how that works.
“Speculation is part of the fun of the sport, but if you are going to speculate, pick up the phone and ask. There is no sports journalist in the world today that doesn’t pick up the phone and ask 'could I have a response?'”
Aside from the Egan missing out on the two winners at the Curragh another flash point that had fanned the rumours was the defeat suffered by Ancient Egypt in the Group One Cygames Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp.
However, while frustrated with the loss, which was Ancient Egypt's second in succession following his near miss in the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot, Joorabchian insisted that the result had not caused any friction.
He added: “You travel all the way to France and you get beat, of course you're not happy. He wasn’t happy in himself and I wasn’t happy.
“I wasn’t there, but everyone else was there and everyone was a bit deflated, but you ramp up and get on with it. The next day is a new race and off you go."
'You have to use a bit of common sense'
One thing Joorabchian admitted he is keen to do going forward is to use his resources more effectively by placing his retained riders better geographically.
He added: “As a group, and when you are in charge of an organisation you have to sometimes weigh up certain situations. We had a situation not long ago where David went up to York, which was a four hour journey to ride a horse called Pikachu in a maiden and Rowan drove four hours down here to ride a different horse at Lingfield.
“One of my first thoughts is that it wasn’t a Group One, Group Two or Group Three, and we should have used our resources more effectively. One of the things David and I spoke about, and one I think is very important, is that he manages to ride as many good horses as possible because the more good horses he rides the better he gets and confidence builds up.
“If he has six rides at Newbury why send him to Hamilton for one runner that is a 0-70. You have to use a bit of common sense.
“That doesn’t mean you are diminishing or promoting someone else. It means you are running your team to the most effective nature you can, and that is what we need to do."
Joorabchian also believes that giving his riders a rest from time to time to recharge the batteries is another important factor moving forward in order to try and reap the rewards he seeks to achieve with his operation.
He added: “Sometimes you have to give these people a rest. Players can’t play the entire Premier League season, and the entire World Cup, and have no rest.
“Jockeys are the same. They can’t go through an entire season doing all the travelling they do day in, day out, doing six hours here and four hours there, and then expect them to be machines without giving them any rest.
“What happens is... they can’t be machines. Sometimes you have to make decisions to say this guy needs a rest today. Football managers do it, trainers do it, baseball people do it, NBA people do it and NFL people do it."
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