It may be an appropriate thing, you know given horse racing is governed by celestial beings who want the scripts written to showcase the theatre and wonder of the sport, that Andrew Adkins wins the $3million Star Doncaster Mile at Randwick.
Why, well he’s riding a horse called I AM SUPERMAN (Footstepsinthesand – Fastnet Lady) and it’s not a long stretch to say Adkins himself is a bit of a superman given what he’s been through.
Market 💰: View the Odds for the Doncaster Mile
“Right now, the body is great,” he said.
“I couldn’t be happier with it especially after what it has been through.”
And what he and it went through was pure physical, emotional and mental hell.
He was dislodged in the home stretch from the horse he was on, Hot’N’Hazy in what was a totally avoidable fall at Rosehill on 25 July.
Blame aside, he was hospitalised with seven broken ribs, a broken leg in a couple of places and a busted collarbone.
It took him eight months to heal. “Rehab was hard. But it had to be done.
“It was the only way I could get back in A1 order.”
Every now and then he posted videos of what he had to do in order just to speed the healing and strengthen his broken body.
It hurt just watching what he did and endured.
But what wasn’t broken was his spirit, his will to succeed, his desire to ride again…and more than that, to ride winners.
His first mount back was in February and he got beaten, but his strength, desire, timing and skill have all picked up and he is ready for I Am Superman tomorrow, although being back in the saddle has been a pretty tough slog too.
“It’s great to be back riding, because I just love it.
“But, it’s very hard in Sydney, let alone at carnival time. I do feel like that I’m getting a good go, but it has been a bit frustrating.
“And it gets even more frustrating if you let it. I did have 8 months off so it’s not easy to just go bang straight away especially in Sydney where it’s probably the hardest racing in the world.”
Ok, here’s where the theatre of not just the horse but racing itself kicks in. In 60 rides back, Andrew has ridden just the one winner, a lowly maiden victor at Kembla a month ago.
Hardly the right form leading into the cauldron of a race like the Gr 1 Donny. But, remember, he rides a Superhorse named tellingly I Am Superman. It’s a great name and the best motto Adkins can adopt. The horse is a last start winner and the horse is trained at this track.
These are fairly salient points going into a race like this.
“I think he is a great lightweight chance,” said the hoop who has already ridden a Gr 1 winner – it aboard Daisy Doom back in 2018.
“If he gets the luck in running, hopefully he’s my next.”
Palmerbet has I Am Superman at $31 to win the Gr 1 feature.
It’s an appropriate name for a young man who has already beaten the kryptonite of pain, broken bones and inactivity.
