From setback to success: Andrew Adkins shines with Lord Mayor's Cup success
Adkins, 27, had done it tough since he was involved in a horror fall in 2020 when he broke his leg in four different places, punctured a lung and broke a collarbone.
He returned to the saddle eight months later but the opportunities started drying up and in 2024 he made the decision to change tact and move his riding career in a different direction.
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'I was coming to town, riding two or three 100-to-one chances, and I just spoke to the manager and we decided to try a different path,' Adkins said.
'We decided to take a step down, go back and get full books of chances at the provincials rather than coming to town on a Saturday and things have gone really well.
'The last 18 months or so, I've really been enjoying my riding and things have been going really well.
'Then you have a day like this, and you know you've done the right thing.'
After riding less than 40 winners in each of the previous two seasons, Atkins is closing in on 60 race winners at a career best strike rate of 12.3 per cent for the 2024/25 season with two months still remaining until it draws to a close on July 31.
'Any Stakes winner is rewarding but to get two winners back in town today is very satisfying and it helps build that confidence,' he said.
'I've been back at the provincials for a while now and I've had great success there.
'It's been great for my confidence and now as we head into the winter months, the opportunities to come back and ride in town are opening up and like today, I've made the most of some really great opportunities.'
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Atkins win earlier in the day was aboard the impressive Joe Pride-trained King's Secret in the Toyota Forklifts 3&4YO Benchmark 72 Handicap (1100m) but his steer on the sometimes tricky Touristic in the Lord Mayor's Cup (2000m) was that of a mature rider at the peak of his powers.
Touristic, a sometimes barrier rogue, jumped swiftly and rolled forward with Adkins finding a spot in the first three pairs of the field, switching him mount off to conserve energy before wheeling out four wide from the top of the straight and surging to the front 200m from home.
'The main thing for him today was to begin well, which is something he's not really known for, so that was box one ticked early on and from there I just wanted to have the most economical run as I could so that was another box ticked,' Adkins said.
'He had a really fluent run and he was always going to be strong late and he'd been crying out for a wet track like we've got today.
'He's a fit horse that was never going to stop so once he got the first half right, I was pretty confident he'll take some beating and that's the way it played out.'
Touristic ($9) defeated Major Beel ($6) by two-and-a-quarter lengths with the $3.60 favourite Glory Daze another three-quarters of a length back in third.
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Winning trainer Peter Snowden said the son of former British superstar Frankel was deserving of the victory while also praising the piloting skills of Adkins.
'He won well and he's done a really good job,' Snowden said.
'He's a horse that needs things to go right for him in a race and Andrew executed perfectly.
'He's a genuine enough horse but with cut in the ground, he relished the conditions and when he got put into the race like he was, he was always going to take some beating.
'Really happy for Andrew too. A genuine good guy that can ride light.
'He listens, works hard and we've had quite a bit of success over the years so yep, very happy for him.'
Snowden said while Touristic 'has been up for a while' he would see how he comes through the run and consider a trip to Queensland for a race on the first weekend in July.
'A race like the Caloundra Cup might suit him,' he said. 'He can run a mile and a half.
'He ran second to Deny Knowledge in the Grafton Cup last year so he can get a trip and that might be on the cards.'
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