John K. “J.K.” Adams, whose riding career peaked in the late 1970s in Maryland and who was the grandson of Hall of Fame jockey Johnny Adams, drowned recently in New Jersey, according to a longtime friend. He was 62. Kimberly Clark, who said she had a close affiliation with Adams for 30 years, said Adams was working as a stablehand at Monmouth Park at the time of his death, which she believes occurred on Aug. 20. Among the top mounts for Adams was Guilty Conscience, the 1981 champion sprinter in North America. His best year was 1977, when he rode 192 winners. From 1976, the earliest year for which statistics are available, through 2000, Adams won 774 races. Johnny Adams, his grandfather, rode from 1935-58 and was a contemporary of Johnny Longden and Eddie Arcaro. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1965. His son (and J.K. Adams’s father), also named John, also was a jockey. J.K. Adams is survived by a daughter. Clark said Friday that Adams’s family was awaiting results of an autopsy and had yet to decide whether a memorial will be held.