'I thought I’d find it easier than what I did watching on' - Derby-winning jockey Adam Kirby strikes with first runner as a trainer

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Derby winning jockey Adam Kirby got his new career as a trainer off to the best possible start at Southwell on Wednesday night when his first runner Tuscan Point ran out an impressive winner of a 6f handicap under apprentice Taryn Langley.

Kirby, who rode nearly 2,000 winners in a career that ended in 2023, was on hand to greet his winner at the East Midlands track, an experience he described as "a bit different to riding them".

Sent off 13-2 in a field of 11 in a Class 6 race, Tuscan Point sat mid-division for the early part of the race before looming into contention at the two-furlong pole from where he went clear to beat Beneficiary by five and a half lengths.

Kirby told Sky Sports: “We’ve done the best by the horse. He’s only done two easy bits of work as he has two speeds – very slow or very fast. 

"After a furlong and half everything was perfect as they went off very fast. It’s a good feeling to have my first winner and I thought I’d find it easier than what I did watching on.

“My first ride as a jockey was a winner, so hopefully this career can be very similar. I think the world of Taryn, who is very polite, works hard and rides very nicely.”

Kirby took out a licence to train this year at Vicarage Fam at Kirtling, near Newmarket, alongside the pre-training business he set up a few years ago with his partner Megan Evans and for which he has clients such as Godolphin and Richard Spencer.

During his 21-year career as a rider, Kirby had several top-level victories, most notably on Adayar in the 2021 Derby for Charlie Appleby, and July Cup wins with the Clive Cox duo Lethal Force and Harry Angel.

His success as a trainer mirrors that of a jockey as Kirby won on his first ride as a 7lb claiming apprentice on the Gay Kelleway-trained Broughton Knows at Lingfield in 2004.

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