WHAT a Voyage Rob Hornby has been on these past couple of weeks.
From losing the winning ride on Westover in the Irish Derby, to celebrating his first Group 1 on home soil.
No wonder the 27-year-old was the happiest man in town after his Falmouth Stakes triumph at Newmarket on Prosperous Voyage.
Some would have kicked off, stropped and thrown a few toys out of the pram when Colin Keane got the call-up.
But Hornby kept his cool, watched super-sub Keane win the Irish Derby and said all the right things.
Then to rub salt in the wounds, along came a certain Frankie Dettori – not needed by John Gosden for a spell – to snatch more of his rides at Ralph Becketts.
As we know, Dettori is back in the Clarehaven fold. But had he not been, Hornby would have been getting splinters on the bench once more.
Instead Dettori was on red-hot 1-7 favourite and the unbeaten Inspiral who fluffed her lines.
“It’s funny how these things work out,” chuckled Hornby.
“This game is a roller coaster, it’s a hell of a ride.
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“I’m in such a lucky position to get to ride horses like this.
“Yes sometimes it doesn’t go your way, but sometimes it does and today it did.
“I wouldn’t have even been riding the horse, but three or four days ago Frankie was back. It’s just amazing how it works.
“When you get the opportunities you have to make the most of them and thankfully I did.
“I’ve got a great connection with this horse, she means a lot to me and I’m chuffed for the team.”
But it wasn’t just Hornby that nearly missed out on his big day. The horse wasn’t even meant to be at Newmarket.
Had the trainer had his way, Prosperous Voyage would have run in France at the end of May and might not have been in tip-top shape for the Falmouth.
A double-dose of irony and a 1-7 favourite not turning up ensured Beckett was nearly as pleased as his jockey.
He said: “It is a horse race and anything can happen!
“You will remember she was supposed to run in the Prix Saint Alary but they closed the M20 the night before she was due to travel.
“The traffic was just backed up and I decided not to send her. That probably counted for her today!
“Maybe Inspiral didn’t turn up, maybe she bounced, but this filly ran her race and that is all that really matters if you are me.”
Beckett always said it was Westover’s owners Juddmonte that made the final call to use Keane over Hornby at the Curragh.
The trainer relies on a number of jockeys at his Kimpton Down Stables, but in recent years Hornby has become his go to.
For his main man to have been deemed not good enough on the big stage must have been a dent to the ego.
Here Beckett and Hornby showed they’re more than up to it.
It makes Westover’s next outing at Ascot in the King George even more interesting. Who do Juddmonte plump for now?
Beckett said: “Rob gave her a lovely ride. We don’t lack faith in our rider.
“We have three jockeys, we don’t have a stable jockey, and if an owner wants a different jockey that is their prerogative and that is how it works.
“Some of it has gone well and some of it has not gone well. But Rob never panics when he is challenged.
“He sits still and he suits this filly. He sat still on her and she came good underneath him.
“He is an integral part of the operation. Whether he rides all the horses isn’t necessarily the be all and end all. He will always ride what we feel is right to ride.
“He is a very laid back character. The stuff that goes on around him not riding this or that doesn’t really bother him.”
The Gosden and Frankie comeback tour quickly hit the skids as Inspiral flopped.
But this time around it definitely wasn’t the Italian’s fault.
For Gosden it was arms-crossed wondering what had happened rather than flailing arms and a public dressing down of his jockey.
Gosden said: “You don’t normally come here after a big win at Ascot but she hadn’t run all year, so we’ve come here.
“I just thought she ran a little flat. The ground has quickened up and I’d agree with that, but I think it’s more the turnaround.
“Normally you wouldn’t go from a huge performance at Ascot to coming here, but having run once it made sense.
“You could tell early on that she was a little bit flat. We’ll freshen her up and away we go again, she seems happy enough.”
Gosden and Dettori will live to fight another day. This isn’t their first rodeo.
But for Hornby, now he has the taste for it, he’ll be hoping another Group 1 is just around the corner. On to the King George we go.
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