Jamie Mott’s unbridled emotion as Roch ‘N’ Horse hit the line in the Champion’s Sprint at Flemington was easily understood. Not only was it Jamie’s second Gr 1 victory in seven weeks, but it served as testimony to the jockey’s remarkable resilience to come back from horror injuries sustained in a freakish Cranbourne fall in late 2019. Jamie suffered extensive fractures to his right leg, and fibula damage to the left. He spent many weeks in a wheelchair and was out of the saddle for six months.
One thousand kilometres away at the Wyong meeting Andrew Adkins watched Jamie’s Gr 1 win on the jockey’s room monitor and no doubt related to the significance of the win. Andrew didn’t have the good fortune to be winning an elite race, but he was chuffed later in the day to reel off a winning double on the Wyong card. He scored on Hard To Say for Jason Deamer and Showtime Lady for Brad Widdup. Add to that three minor placings in earlier races, and it was a pretty good day at the office.
Andrew makes it a double as Showtime Lady wins a Provincial Plate heat at Wyong on Saturday - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Just two months after Jamie Mott returned to the saddle in May of 2020, Andrew was involved in a sickening spill at Rosehill Gardens. His mount Hot ‘N’ Hazy was contacted by Smart Image who made a sudden outward shift at the 300m, putting Andrew’s mount onto the heels of Robbie Dolan’s mount Duchess. Hot ‘N’ Hazy fell heavily, severely checking three other runners. Andrew’s injuries were a result of two of those horses galloping over his prostrate form. Sadly Hot ‘N’ Hazy had to be euthanised after fracturing a shoulder in the incident.
The young jockey’s injury list wasn’t pretty. Multiple fractures to the left leg requiring the insertion of a steel rod, seven broken ribs and a broken collar bone. As if that lot wasn’t enough, Andrew also had to deal with a pneumothorax or collapsed lung. His rehabilitation was slow and tedious. He spent much of it with his parents Brett and Kerry at Port Macquarie where his riding career had begun seven years earlier. It should be remembered this was one of four accidents in which Andrew was involved in the space of fifteen months.
In April of 2019 his mount War Baron fell close to the winning post at Randwick when he tried to jump a fallen horse. The injury list looked dreadful - fractured vertabrae, sternum, ribs, jaw and nose, but absolutely no surgery was required and he was back in record time. Not long after he fell down the stairs at home incurring a broken wrist. Youth and adherence to medical advice saw him back at the races much sooner than expected, but lady luck wasn’t done with the Port Macquarie lad just yet. He was no sooner back in the saddle when a fractious horse crashed through the barrier with him at the Randwick trials, hurling him backwards out of the saddle. He broke the same wrist again and knew it instantly. Andrew’s ability to cope with this kind of frustration amazed his family and friends.
Andrew's talents are recognised by leading stables. Here he is winning the Up And Coming Stakes for Team Snowden on Dracarys- courtesy Bradley Photographers.
The Rosehill Gardens crash put him on the sidelines for an interminable nine months. He rode in twenty nine barrier trials before making his return to the races in February of 2021. He worked feverishly to get ready for his comeback and hasn’t let up since. “I knew there was only one way to stay afloat in the Sydney riding ranks, and that was to work my butt off,” said Andrew. “The depth of our riding ranks is bottomless. It’s the same old story. There are only three or four chances in most races, and you’ve got jockey managers fighting over them.”
Andrew’s allegiance to his former master Ron Quinton is commendable. I’m at Randwick Tuesdays and Saturdays and Ronnie gets first call,” he said. “Mind you my old boss has been enormously loyal to me in return. I also do a few horses for Team Snowden and John Thompson. When clear I make a point of reporting to the trainer’s hut where I put up my hand. I make myself available for a number of trainers at the regular barrier trials in Sydney.”
With former master Ron Quinton after Daysee Doom's Golden Pendant win - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
“In order to spread myself around a little, I get to Rosehill most Wednesday and Thursday mornings where I ride some work for Gerald Ryan and Stirling Alexiou, Team Hawkes and Richard and Will Freedman. I make a point of getting to Warwick Farm on Friday mornings just to cover all bases. The regular trackwork helps me to preserve my very best asset and that’s the ability to ride light. Despite my 170cm height, I can ride the limit easily. Given reasonable notice I can make 50kg or 51kgs in some of the major handicap races. I’m hoping that luxury helps me to fluke another Group 1 win one day.”
The young jockey was barely out of his time when he got his first and only taste of Gr 1 glory in the autumn of 2018. To achieve that distinction on his all time favourite horse Daysie Doom was special. To win the Coolmore Classic for his master Ron Quinton completed a day to remember. He rode the daughter of Domesday in 23 of her 27 starts for 9 wins, 6 placings and $1.2 million. “She did so much for my career,” said Andrew. “Apart from the Coolmore we won a Dark Jewel Classic, a Golden Pendant, and a Millie Fox. She was a quirky little thing early days, but transformed into a tough, professional race mare. I’ll never forget her.”
A coveted Gr. 1 win for the young jockey - The Coolmore Classic on Daysee Doom in 2018 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
The Coolmore Classic win stands alone in the Adkins scrapbook but he was pretty chuffed to win an Up And Coming Stakes on Dracarys and a Golden Gift on Dame Giselle. He also cherishes the memory of his Sydney apprentices premiership in 2016/2017 with 36 city wins - a feat achieved 50 years earlier by his master and valued tutor Ron Quinton.
For today’s professional jockeys the Sydney metropolitan race meetings are almost a closed shop. The provincial circuit also generates a tough school. Like most jockeys who chip away without a strong stable retainer, Andrew can only hope a better than average horse comes along. He was lucky enough to win races at Canterbury and Newcastle late last year on the promising mare Norwegian Bliss, unbeaten in seven starts to date. Trainer Nathan Doyle opted for Dylan Gibbons’ claim on Melbourne Cup day at Randwick, but has already informed Andrew he’ll have the ride when she next appears.
The jockey was on a winning roll early this year when yet another freak accident halted his progress. He sustained an arm injury in a barrier mishap at Canberra and immediately feared the worst. When left unattended for three hours in a Canberra hospital, he arranged for a friend to drive him straight to Sydney where the injury was assessed by members of the Duckworth orthopaedic team. They diagnosed an undisplaced fracture of the ulna. Not even six weeks in a plaster cast could deter the now legendary Adkins spirit. He returned with a vengeance and with the help of manager Liam Prior, he’s had a large volume of recent rides with ten winners on the board in the past six weeks.
Andy sports the Godolphin blue in this win on Tamerlane on Melbourne Cup day at Randwick - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Perhaps Jamie Mott’s Group 1 win at Flemington on Saturday will have an inspirational effect on his young NSW counterpart. The Sydney jockey has bounced back from very similar circumstances to those experienced by the Victorian rider. With the Gr 1’s all over for a while in Sydney, the jockey universally known as “Andy” can turn his attention to the autumn of 2023. Hardly a day goes by when he doesn’t reflect on the indescribable thrill of that Coolmore Classic win almost five years ago. This kid deserves another one!
(Banner image - Andrew wins the 2019 Golden Gift on Dame Giselle for Team Snowden - courtesy Bradley Photographers.)