{"id":292587,"date":"2023-09-29T22:38:44","date_gmt":"2023-09-29T22:38:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/?p=292587"},"modified":"2023-09-29T22:38:44","modified_gmt":"2023-09-29T22:38:44","slug":"rob-hornby-dreaming-of-glory-on-westover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/horse-racing\/rob-hornby-dreaming-of-glory-on-westover\/","title":{"rendered":"Rob Hornby dreaming of glory on Westover"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>The Arc? It&#8217;s like going from Premier League to Champions League final! Rob Hornby dreaming of glory on Westover as he gears up for Europe&#8217;s greatest race<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Hornby claimed &#8216;you times it all by 10&#8217; when it comes to the Arc over other races<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The jockey praised\u00a0Westover as he prepares to ride the horse again in the event<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Mail Sport&#8217;s new WhatsApp Channel: Get the breaking news and exclusives here<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For a split second, Rob Hornby stops talking and stares into space. He has become lost in the moment as he remembers the noise, the colour and the frenzy.<\/p>\n<p>The jockey, who is entrusted with riding Westover in the Prix de l\u2019Arc de Triomphe, is trying to articulate the magnitude of Europe\u2019s greatest race and the emotions it stirs. As he begins to put it all into words, his biggest ambition comes tumbling out.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I\u2019ve been lucky enough to ride in big races. But the Arc? You times it all by 10. It\u2019s like going from a Premier League match to a Champions League final. Last year there was an atmosphere on course I\u2019d never witnessed.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018This is the biggest stage of our sport. The noise hits you straight away \u2014 everyone is screaming your name and it\u2019s like you\u2019re a film star. I couldn\u2019t comprehend it. Then there was a massive thunderstorm before the race, which added to the drama.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I\u2019ve been to Cheltenham and heard the roar from the stands for that first race on the Tuesday. We had that as soon as the stalls opened! That roar will stay with me for ever. It\u2019s phenomenal. My dream growing up was to win the Derby. Now? It would be the Arc.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/29\/19\/75991839-12576613-image-a-54_1696012869961.jpg\" height=\"424\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Rob Hornby has talked up the Arc ahead of the biggest European race in the sport&#8217;s calendar this weekend<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/29\/19\/75991845-12576613-image-a-55_1696012873267.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>He has been entrusted with riding Westover, a horse with whom he has a bond like no other<\/p>\n<p>He might just realise it on Sunday on a strapping colt with whom he has a bond like no other. Hornby, a 28-year-old who was born in Southport but grew up in Shropshire, talks about Westover as if the pair are friends.<\/p>\n<p>Hornby first sat on Westover, whose career has been carefully sculpted by trainer Ralph Beckett, for a maiden at Sandown in August 2021. The journey since has been full of ups and downs but, through it all, the rider\u2019s affection has done nothing but grow. \u2018He\u2019s an amazing character and he knows exactly who I am,\u2019 says Hornby, smiling again.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018As soon as I get on him, he just knows. I\u2019ve been riding out at Ralph\u2019s for four years and he\u2019s the only horse I\u2019ve fallen off. He\u2019s done it to me three times! He won\u2019t ever run loose, he\u2019ll just stand and look at you! He just enjoys what he is doing so much \u2014 he is exuberant; such a big, powerful animal and that\u2019s what you see in his running style. He\u2019s just so eager to please you.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/29\/19\/75992247-12576613-image-a-56_1696013631661.jpg\" height=\"434\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Horny said that growing up it was his dream to win the derby, but that has now changed to winning the Arc<\/p>\n<p>And how he has pleased them. Westover\u2019s top-level successes include last year\u2019s Irish Derby (Hornby was not on board that day, as owners Juddmonte wanted local rider Colin Keane instead) and this year\u2019s Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, a race won 12 months ago by subsequent Arc winner Alpinista.<\/p>\n<p>Westover finished sixth behind Sir Marc Prescott\u2019s mare but everything has been geared this campaign towards a bold show in Paris, with his last race, in the King George and Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes, when runner-up to Hukum, showing why his claims are strong.<\/p>\n<p>Still, Hornby grimaces when that race is mentioned. \u2018Horrific,\u2019 he says, explaining the feeling of coming out second best in a finish of bobbing heads. \u2018To get so close\u2026 Ah! But he became a man at Ascot, the battle he had. He\u2019s the real deal now.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>But he has lost none of the playfulness. Beckett gave Westover his last serious gallop at Salisbury two weeks ago but has mixed things up since with a trip to Hayling Island in Hampshire.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/29\/21\/75995393-12576613-image-a-57_1696019473219.jpg\" height=\"420\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Hornby said in the build-up to the biggest afternoon of his career that the horse is &#8216;like a little lamb&#8217; when at the beach<\/p>\n<p>\u2018When you take him to the beach, he\u2019s like a little lamb!\u2019 says Hornby. \u2018He walks around, won\u2019t pick the bridle up. He splashes in the shallow water, there will be dogs running around and chasing him and he won\u2019t bat an eyelid! He absolutely loves it.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Sentiments, neatly, that describe how Hornby feels ahead of the biggest afternoon of his career. He maintains he will not have any problem sleeping tonight and nor should he. When it is put to him having a ride in the Arc on a horse of this quality is like finding a rare diamond, agreement is swift.<\/p>\n<p>He says: \u2018I looked through the declarations and saw the jockeys I was competing with. Then you see William Buick and James Doyle, two superstars of our sport, don\u2019t have a ride in the race. That shows you how difficult it is to just be involved in a prestigious race. Everyone wants to be in it, everyone wants to win it.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018One thing I know is that Westover will give me his all. If he was your friend, you\u2019d take him with you into battle. As soon as you get on him, you know you are both going to die by the sword. He doesn\u2019t know any other way.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/racing\/article-12576613\/The-Arc-Rob-Hornby-Westover.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Arc? It&#8217;s like going from Premier League to Champions League final! Rob Hornby dreaming of glory on Westover as he gears up for Europe&#8217;s greatest race Hornby claimed &#8216;you times it all by 10&#8217; when it comes to the Arc over other races The jockey praised\u00a0Westover as he prepares to ride the horse again&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":292586,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Rob Hornby dreaming of glory on Westover - Tell My Sport<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/horse-racing\/rob-hornby-dreaming-of-glory-on-westover\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rob Hornby dreaming of glory on Westover - Tell My Sport\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Arc? 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