Adam Florian rides his 50th winner: Riding has taken precedence over university studies

This is a translation of an interview by Martin Cáp, published on August 5th on http://www.jezdci.cz/clanky/cerstvy-zokej-adam-florian-jezdeni-dostalo-prednost-pred-univerzitou/. Although I claim to try to translate articles about and interviews with young people making their way in Czech horseracing, I have to admit that Adam Florian has passed under the radar. He finished second in our jockeys’ championship in 2018, and he is currently leading our jockeys’ championship in 2019, ahead of David Liška. David Liška is a year younger than Adam Florian, and has made a big impression, has risen very dramatically and has already won plenty of major races. Adam Florian has perhaps been in the shade of David, and he is only now getting rides more frequently on good horses. However, he is also making his mark and is highly rated. There is plenty of space in Czech horseracing for many more good young jockeys.

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Twenty-year-old Adam Florian had a great weekend at the beginning of August 2019. On the Saturday, he won his 50th race, and he is now officially a “jockey” and not a “rider”. And on the Sunday, he moved into the lead in the Czech jockeys’ championship. This young jockey is getting ready to move to Dresden, and he also wants to fight it out with David Liška for the Czech jockeys’ championship.

He has never studied horseracing statistics so much, but when he rode out the finish on První Dáma at Slušovice on August 3rd, her rider Adam Florian knew exactly what was at stake. He was heading for the 50th win in his career.

"I knew it right away. A few tens of metres before the end of the race, it struck me that I was going to win my title as a jockey. And when I was passing the winning post, it just hit me. A great feeling of happiness" Adam says.

This son of former successful rider Petr Florian and trainer Helena Voršilková has achieved his title at the age of twenty, and it took him just four and a half seasons. As it happens, he did it at the racecourse where his father had his biggest win, on horse-of-the-year Law Soziri.

"My parents were very excited. When I got home in the evening and got out of the car, my father poured champagne over me,” the new jockey said with a smile.

His father was his first model as a rider. "My dad influenced me a lot. I got the basics from him, and I’ve listened to his advice. But in the course of a race there are a lot of things that you have to work out for yourself. I still have plenty to learn. I often look at myself on videos, and I say to myself ‘I could have done that better’. 'I could have won that race, if I’d done something differently'. It’s a matter of experience, and I’m still at the beginning," he concedes.

Riding has taken precedence over studying

He started out in the family yard at Mnichov, near Ustí-nad-Labem, in north Bohemia. His first winner was on the sprinter Wobull Se Now, in September 2015 at Prague Velká Chuchle. He won three more races on this fast horse, and at the end of Adam Florian’s first season they won a Category II race.

"That’s something I still appreciate. This year, I won my first Category I race, on Black Canyon, and I also have good memories of finishing second on Sagar in the Velká cena Prahy, and riding Mikesh in a Listed race in Germany [interviewer Martin Cáp was a co-owner of  Mikesh, which was our best sprinter for many years of a long career]. Those must be my biggest successes, but when I think back over what I’ve achieved so far, every single winner brings back happy memories," he reflects.

After getting to his fiftieth winner, Adam Florian has turned his attention to the jockeys’ championship. As of August 23rd, he is in first place, with 21 winners, followed by David Liška on 19, and by Jan Verner and Michal Hrouda on 16 winners each.

"If things go well, I’d like to fight for the championship. It would be good if David and I can compete with each other  until the end of the season. On the other hand, it’s not the be-all and end-all, and I’ll just take it as it comes," he says.

He is now doing everything he can for riding. He even gave up his studies at the University of Life Sciences. "I want to give everything to riding in races, and I wasn’t studying much. I’d wanted to combine the two, but in the end it didn’t make sense. Maybe I’ll try studying again some time in the future, but for now I see that things are going well for me in the saddle, and that’s the route I want to take..."

One day he will probably start riding over fences. 

Apart from working in the family’s yard [his mother, Helena Voršilková, has about 10 horses in her yard, and has already had 6 winners this season, two of them ridden by Adam]. Adam Florian has been working with leading owner DS Pegas, and has been getting chances from other trainers. "Right now, anyone who calls me can put me up on a horse. I’m not under contract with anyone," he says with a smile.

In the future, that could change. The young jockey wants to move to trainer Stefan Richter in Dresden. "We live not far from the German border, so I’d be able to drive over there every day," he explains.

Adam Florian’s biggest challenge is with his weight. He has difficulty getting under 55 kg. "I have to waste almost every racing day. I’m 1 metre 71 centimetres tall, so it’s a question how long I’m going to be able to ride at a reasonable weight. When it can’t be done any longer, I’ll probably try steeplechasing. But, until now, I’m doing well on the flat!"

It also cannot be ruled out that he will one day also have some some success as a horsebreeder. His only foal so far is a yearling daughter of Sleeping Indian and the Category II winner Old Glory. "She’s called Ophelia, and she’s my darling. We’ve currently got her at home out in a field, and whenever I’m there we have a cuddle," says Adam Florian.

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Photo. Adam Florian, in racing colours, with his mother, Helena Voršilková, and his father, Petr Florian. Photo by Petr Guth.