On a sunny afternoon at Lingfield Park last month, having just won the Lingfield Derby Trial on Ambiente Friendly, Callum Shepherd was looking forward to his first ride in the Epsom Classic and all seemed right in his world. Six weeks later, he was looking to the future again on Saturday after winning the Hardwicke Stakes on Isle Of Jura, but the difficult back-story of the month-and-a-half in between was clear from Shepherd’s heartfelt celebration as he crossed the line.
He has been through the mill since what felt like a breakthrough success on Ambiente Friendly. He did nothing wrong on James Fanshawe’s colt. Quite the opposite: he did everything right on an often tricky and headstrong horse. But he soon learned he had been “jocked off” for Epsom by the owners, Bill and Tim Gredley. As Ambiente Friendly and Rab Havlin, his new rider, went to post at Epsom on 1 June, Shepherd was back at Lingfield, for five rides on the all-weather.
