Andrew Adams

National Hunt jockey Andrew John Adams was born on January 17, 1965. 

He served his apprenticeship with Nick Gaselee and rode his first winner on Private Views in a Worcester bumper on April 24, 1985.

He was at his peak in the late 1980s and early 90s, riding 14 winners in both 1987/88 and 88/89, eight in 89/90 and 11 in 90/91. Andrew achieved his first big race victory on Gaselee’s Western Dandy in the E.B.F. Novices’ Hurdle Final at Cheltenham on April 20, 1988.

However, it was his association with Party Politics that produced the highlights of his career. Andrew won five races on Gaselee’s giant chaser, beginning with a pair of Warwick novice chases. In December 1990 he won twice on him at Newbury, namely the Lionel Vick Memorial Handicap Chase and, more importantly, the Mandarin Handicap Chase, giving Andrew his most important win. The following month they won Warwick’s Premier Chase.

In the 1991/92 season Andy rode Party Politics to finish second to Chatham in the Hennessy Gold Cup and to Carvill’s Hill in the Welsh National. Unfortunately, he broke a leg in a fall from Come Home Alone at Doncaster on February 22 and so missed riding Party Politics in the 1992 Grand National, with Carl Llewellyn taking over and steering him to victory. On National day, he was caught on BBC cameras watching a television screen in the Aintree weighing room, earnestly willing on his replacement rider.

Andrew subsequently spent nine years working at a pre-training centre in Japan, teaching newcomers to ride and also the techniques of a racing stable. He learned to speak, read and write the Japanese language.

He returned to Britain in 2007 to help run his parents’ 80-acre fruit farm in Kent. Andrew has also maintained his involvement in racing as a part-time starting stalls handler with Arena Leisure, working at Lingfield, Folkestone (until its closure) and Windsor.