'The timing feels right' - Shane Kelly retires after three decades in the saddle

Shane Kelly: announced his retirement from the saddle after riding at Goodwood on SundayCredit: Getty Images

Shane Kelly surprised everyone when announcing his retirement from the saddle after partnering the aptly named Amazing Journey to finish seventh in the 7f nursery for trainer Jamie Osborne.

The 46-year-old had his first ride in 1995 and rode more than 1,300 winners in Britain and Ireland.

Highlights included winning the Yorkshire Cup in 2008 on Geordieland, trained by Osborne, the pair finishing second to Yeats in the Ascot Gold Cup the following month, and landing the Wokingham on Rohaan at Royal Ascot in 2021.

Numerically, his best year was 2005, when partnering 93 winners from 1,008 rides with his mounts earning £823,218 in total prize-money.

Kelly said: "The timing feels right. I could be riding a bit more if I wanted to, but I've got other things going on: pre-training, breaking, and sales.

"I'm still friends with some great people and have ridden for some fantastic owners and trainers. I'm very grateful for all the opportunities I've been given from day one, but I won't name names as I don't want to forget anyone.

"Geordieland winning at York was a highlight, I think we had peak caps back then!"

Although retiring from race-riding, Kelly will continue working with horses.

He told Racing TV: "The past two winters, I've had horses in to train and break, so I'll continue to do that. I've got eight in at the moment. I've been lucky to walk away in one piece; I've had a few tumbles here and there."

Appleby strikes

Godolphin’s Poseidon’s Warrior stormed five lengths clear to justify 4-11 favouritism under William Buick in the 1m1f novice, getting off the mark at the second attempt for Charlie Appleby.

Read these next . . .

'It means everything' - Keith Donoghue and Stumptown survive major scares to gain historic success in Velka Pardubicka

'To make up that amount of ground was bordering on weird' - Rosallion firing on all cylinders at home in QEII build-up

Champions Day could have quickest ground for nearly a decade as teams weigh up supplementary entries for Group 1 feast