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'I couldn't watch the Derby - the plan was that I'd ride Ambiente Friendly , so it was a bit of a shock'
Callum Shepherd tells Mary-Jo Jackson about the ups and downs of a testing year
It has been a tumultuous year for Callum Shepherd. It’s no wonder, then, that the celebrations that followed his first Royal Ascot win on Isle Of Jura last month had real feeling behind them.
“You probably saw what it meant,” says Shepherd, speaking of the jubilant post-race scenes after the 16-1 shot had won the Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes, when his usual reticence melted into a flow of emotion as he stood in his irons and roared his way across the winning line.
“A first Royal Ascot winner in any case is a big milestone, but the timing was brilliant. The horse performed just when I needed a lift.”
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- ‘I’ve never had to deal with that in my career and I did find it hard - you start asking yourself what you’re doing wrong’
- ‘I’ll be there to see the kids open their presents but then it’s a coffee, bang, out the door’ - life in a racing yard at Christmas
- ‘I miss the craic of going racing but it’s a young person’s game these days - and I don’t know how they survive, to be honest’
- 'I don't want to be part of this narrative that Irish trainers are better than us - I think that's rubbish, it drives me nuts'
- 'I don't even know what day of the week it is - I'd love a day off but racing is so relentless that you can't do it'