VOTE | June Jockey of the Month

Features | 1st July 2021

Your chance to vote for who you think was the best jockey throughout the month of June 2021.

The contenders for the May Jockey of the Month award are Marco Ghiani, Oisin Murphy and Adam Kirby.

There have been superb performances during the whole of last month from a number of jockeys but these three stood out from the crowd after big race victories at the Cazoo Derby Festival and more recently at Royal Ascot.

The voting has now closed and the winner with a massive 73% of the vote is Marco Ghiani. Huge congratulations!

Marco Ghiani 

The fresh-faced Italian youngster is having some season. A rising star in the weighing room, Ghiani major moment of the month came at Royal Ascot as he stormed to victory aboard Real World in the Royal Hunt Cup.

Upon riding his first Royal Ascot winner, Ghiani said: “I want to say thank you to Stuart Williams (his boss) and Mr Bin Suroor (the trainer) and Sheikh Mohammed (the owner). Thank you very much everyone.”

On top of his success at the sport’s top-table, he has shown a consistency that sees him occupy first place in the Apprentice Jockeys’ Championship with 23 victories to his name. 

Oisin Murphy

A picture of consistency and an increasingly big player in the sports biggest races, Oisin continues to establish his place as a champion of the sport. 

It was a June to remember for the young Irishman as he claimed the top jockey award at Royal Ascot with five memorable winners. 

In a week where he picked up a number of the top prizes, it will be most remembered for a topsy-turvey hour on Friday in which he lost the Commonwealth Cup in the stewards’ room before guiding Alcohol Free to victory in the Coronation Stakes. 

Talking after the victory, Murphy said there was “no place for tears” before going on to say “There are far worse things going on in the world and we are in the entertainment business. I am just lucky to be riding top-class horses.”

Although Godolphin’s No.1 Jockey William Buick leads Oisin Murphy by five in the Flat Jockeys’ Championship standings there’s no doubt that the reigning Champion Jockey will be fighting tooth and nail right up until the finale on QIPCO British Champions Day in October to keep his crown. 

Adam Kirby

Adayar and Adam Kirby wrote their names into racing history with an emphatic and emotional victory in the Cazoo Derby at Epsom. 

Jockey Kirby, who was originally due to ride John Leeper before being replaced by Frankie Dettori, showed both experience and bravery to guide Adayar through the narrowest of gaps up the rail in a key moment on the way to victory. 

A hugely popular and respected member of the weighing room, Kirby was clearly very emotional as he celebrated across the finishing line.

Speaking to ITV the rider commented “I went a bit weak on him in the final half-furlong. I couldn’t believe it. All I could think was my mother would be watching. That made me a bit sad, but she’d have been so happy.”

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