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Jockey Barend Vorster makes his riding comeback this weekend four weeks after hurting his hip and knee in a pre-race fall on May 5.
After he jumped off runaway horse Petite Victoire on the way to the barriers, Vorster initially thought it was an innocuous incident, but scans later revealed soft tissue damage to his hip and minor fractures to his left knee.
The South African convalesced for three weeks as recommended by his doctor, and only returned to trackwork on Saturday. He was also present at the barrier trials on Tuesday, jumping on his Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup (1800m) ride Time Odyssey in Heat 4.
Fitness-wise, Vorster said he is nearly there, feeling he was ready to jump back in the irons - and there was no better way to do it than at a big weekend.
“I’m feeling fit and ready. The hip is still a little bit tender but the more work I do, the better it gets,” he said.
“I will of course take it easy, though, with only two rides on Friday and four rides on Sunday, including Time Odyssey in the QEII Cup.”
During his enforced break, Vorster missed the Group 1 Singapore Guineas (1600m) and Group 3 Saas Fee Stakes (1400m) meetings as well as last Sunday’s Group 2 Stewards’ Cup (1400m) meeting, but it was not such a big loss.
Main supporter Ricardo Le Grange’s Storm Troops dead-heated with War Affair in the Saas Fee, but he was always Nooresh Juglall’s ride while stablemate Mr Fantastic, who was meant to be Vorster’s and was in the end ridden by Benny Woodworth, finished down the course.
As Vorster had no commitment in neither the Guineas nor the Stewards’ Cup, there was no room for regrets. The timing of his return could not have been better with the $300,000 Group 1 QEII Cup - for the first time dropped back from 2000m to 1800m – drawing a big team of four runners from Le Grange.
“Time Odyssey is very well. He ran a nice trial and I expect him to run well in the QEII Cup,” said Vorster.
The other three Le Grange runners in the QEII Cup are Quechua (Vlad Duric), Storm Troops (Juglall) and Perfect P (John Powell).