The story of the first 16 years of Rob Hornby’s life suggests he was always likely to end up a jockey. A jump jockey, to be precise, since he was born in Southport, near the famous “Red Rum” beach, and later moved to a farm in Shropshire, where his spare time was spent pony-clubbing, hunting and show jumping. “My nan was a keen racegoer but it was all National Hunt,” he says. “So I was always watching jump racing, and never really the Flat. I thought it was a bit boring.”
Fast-forward to 2023 and his immediate future in Flat racing could scarcely be more compelling. Hornby will be aboard Westover, the third-favourite, in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp on Sunday, the showpiece event of the European season and the race, alongside the Derby, every jockey dreams of winning when they set out as an apprentice.
