ANDREW Adkins’ win on board Cogliere at Randwick on Saturday won’t go down in the record books as his first victory, but it will be his most emotional.
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He has previously ridden more than 100 winners.
But Saturday in Sydney was a special day for Port Macquarie when the local jockey rode the local horse which is trained by Marc Quinn to victory.
“I don’t know if there has been a horse that has come out of Port Macquarie that has won that TAB race for a while, if ever,” Adkins said.
“It’s good to get one for the local area and my boss.”
It was a race the Australian Turf Club had chosen to honour the late Margaret Quinton.
Quinton was the wife of champion jockey turned trainer Ron Quinton who died suddenly last Sunday.
An emotional Adkins said it was a ride which he will reflect on for many years to come.
“Randwick was probably the one that will mean the most to me,” he said.
“I was able to win that race which was pretty special because it was a pretty tight finish.
“It’s good to get a win for the local area and my boss.”
- Andrew Adkins
“I definitely had someone riding there with me and lifted it over the line for me so it will stay in my heart for a long time.”
The win meant even more for the Port Macquarie teenager who lived in the Quinton household when he moved to the “big smoke” two years ago.
“Right from the get-go when I decided I wanted to be an apprentice he (Ron) supported me from day dot so to get that first win in town for him because he always stuck by me was pretty special.”
Adkins also paid tribute to Quinn, who had also backed the 19-year-old from his early years when he was growing up within a stone’s throw of the Port Macquarie racecourse.
“After I left school and decided I wanted to be an apprentice, Marc came and saw me and said he’d love to take me on and give me an opportunity,” the teenager said.
“I signed up with him a little over three years ago now; three years ago I was nobody and to be able to get that win in that city was something special.”
The promising apprentice was confident the horse racing industry might start to take the little-known jockey a bit more seriously.
“I’ve got a lot more support these days,” he said.
“You’re a nobody at one stage and then you work hard and the main thing I’ve been told is the harder you work the more successful you are.
"Three years ago I was nobody and to be able to get that win in that city was something special."
- Andrew Adkins
“I’ve had bigger wins, but for a country horse to come down and perform like he did was enormous.”
Family also means a lot to the teenager and he couldn’t let this victory go by without thanking those closest to him.
He said he wouldn’t be where he was without the help of father Brett, mother Kerry and sister Tegan.
“If I ever got a step ahead of myself, dad would sit me right back in my place and tell me where I came from and who I am,” he said.
“Mum has also been a big supporter of mine and she’s the first one to pick you up and hold you tight. And I speak many days on the phone to my sister and she’s doing well for herself.”
