Adam Kirby

Once better known for his exploits on the all-weather, Adam Kirby scored a win on only his second Derby ride. He tells Catherine Austen about that winning feeling, racing pigeons and his passion for starting youngsters

- Catherine Austen

AS Adam Kirby rode Adayar into the winners’ enclosure at Epsom after the Derby, the expression on his face was more one of utter disbelief and shock than elation. Not only had the 32-year-old won the world’s most famous Flat race on just his second ever ride in it, but he could also see his fellow jockeys lined up outside the weighing room, grinning, whistling and applauding.

This is a very rare sight in Flat racing. It indicates the level of respect accorded to him as a man and a horseman – and his peers’ recognition that consistent hard work can spark a slow-burning career into flame. Adam may have ridden more than 1,800 winners in the 16 years he’s been a jockey, but only seven of those have been at Group One level. His was not a name known outside of the sport, but a Derby victory means headlines around the world.

“I was very surprised by that,” he admits. “You don’t see the lads coming out of the weighing room very often, which made it a lot more special. I’ve had no end of lovely messages and letters since. Lots of people have been happy about the way it turned out, which is a nice thing.”

What the modest and softly spoken man means by “the way it turned out” is the fact that two weeks before the race, Adam was called up for the high-profile ride on John Leeper, the colt trained by Ed Dunlop and named after his legendary Derby-winning father, John Leeper Dunlop. It was a big nod to how far Adam, never a particularly fashionable jockey, had succeeded in climbing his way up the ladder of the riding ranks.