Callum Shepherd: Isle of Jura allowed me to move on from Derby disappointment

Callum Shepherd has admitted that he chose not to watch last year's Derby after losing the ride aboard Ambiente Friendly, but that as an optimist, he remains hopeful that his time will come to ride and maybe even win the world's most famous Flat race.

Shepherd spoke candidly about the disappointment of losing the ride on the latest episode of Jockeys The Podcast, where he talks about a wide range of topics with host Adam McNamara.

Inevitably, the conversation drifted to events of last summer when Shepherd was unexpectedly jocked off Ambiente Friendly at Epsom, having ridden him in his previous two races that season.

The combination had gained a wide-distance victory in the Lingfield Derby Trial three weeks before the premier Classic, but his owners, the Gredleys, sprung a surprise by telling Shepherd he was surplus to requirements and going to be replaced by 50-year-old Rab Havlin.

Shepherd ended up riding at the evening meeting at Lingfield on Derby Day and didn’t dare watch the big race beforehand. 

“I was heartbroken,” he said. “Basically, it was fear of how it would make me feel if he won. Horses kept falling by the wayside in the run up the race and I was terrified as to how I would get over it if it [the horse winning] happened.

“I could imagine that in 20 years’ time, when it was being replayed, the voicever being ‘This is the year Callum Shepherd got jocked off’. I hated that was going to be be the narrative for me and, had it happened, then it might have been.

“It was not even a case of watching the race and swinging off his tail, which is a phrase jockeys use to one another [when they get jocked off and want to slow down the horse in question by swinging on its tail]. I didn’t want to be that person. I didn’t watch the race. There are some lovely people behind that horse, and it was horrible not to be involved with them.

“It boiled down to fear of how it was going to make me feel. I don’t know how I’d have got over it because it’s not something you can put right." 

He added: “Let’s be realistic, I might never get such a good ride in the Derby ever again. I’m very ambitious that I will ride in Derbys and hopefully win one, but probability will tell you that I’d be unlikely to go into the race with a 5/2 chance, or whatever he was.

“For instance, this year an Arc-winning jockey, Luke Morris, had his first ride in the race on a 100-1 shot. It’s so hard to get a ride in the race, let alone one with such a chance.”

Ambiente Friendly ended up running a huge race and threatened to win, but ultimately was no match for City of Troy in the closing stages. He has not won since, been gelded and has moved yards.

“In the lead-up, let’s be frank, I wasn’t conflicted with what I wanted the result to be,” Shepherd said. “By the same token, I wished no ill will to those involved, but it wasn’t going to be a palatable watch.”

Shepherd says he was able to “move on” after he guided Isle Of Jura, trained by George Scott, to a commanding victory in the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot soon after. 

“Because of what preceded it, that added to the joy of it all,” he said. “That was magic. I can’t describe how special that was.”