Jockey Joanna Mason says “she can’t wait to get back to doing what she loves most” following the welcome news earlier this week she’s been given the green light for a return to race riding following a frustrating spell on the side-lines.
The Malton-based rider suffered a now well-documented fractured fibula in an accident on the gallops caused by pigeons at the stables of her granddad and uncle, Mick & David Easterby, early on last month.
“I think as a group, us jockeys are accustomed to the fact injuries are part and parcel of the game, but this was a hard one to take, the filly I rode is inexperienced and was startled by the birds.
“Riders get unshipped regularly but to fall as I did was just terribly unlucky”.
Following her decision to up the self-confidence stakes and go professional aged 30, Mason’s career trajectory has been an upwardly mobile one, she rode out her claim last May before enhancing her profile with an impressive debut appearance at last year’s Shergar Cup before finishing last term with a best tally yet of 46 winners. Constantly striving to do better, she went on to showcase her talents on an International stage earlier this year, with a stellar display in the International Jockeys Challenge at the Saudi Cup in February, faring comfortably best of the female riders and a highly respectable third place finish overall.
She said: “The experience of Saudi was amazing on many levels and I returned recharged and ready to tackle the Flat season."
Domestically she got off to an excellent start, bagging 18 winners before her unfortunate setback.
“There was a small blip when a horse kicked me at Beverley and I was out of action for a short spell (9 days) but I felt like the season had just began to kick into gear again for me. I rode winners on consecutive days early last month and as a stable we seemed to be turning the corner”.
Turn the corner they did, and the intervening period has seen the Mick & David Easterby yard amass 20 winners during a highly consistent spell for the joint license holders.
“I’m not going to lie, it’s been frustrating for me at times watching from afar, knowing I’d have been in line for a lot of the rides is tough, but we’re a close team at Sheriff Hutton and the results are testament to the hard work of everybody involved, I just hope it continues and enough of them are still well handicapped for me to get the leg upon!”
No stranger to serious injury having broken her back in 2015, she’s a lead advocate for the incredible work done by staff at Jack Berry House in getting her and fellow jockeys back on their feet.
“They’ve been fantastic, initially my recovery was based around using ice and compression to reduce the swelling for 2-3 weeks but it’s amazing how much muscle I lost on my left leg compared to my right in that short time.”
"Danny Hague (Strength & Conditioning Coach) was keen to stress I have a heart, two arms and a leg that are working fine so I never stopped with upper body workouts to maintain a level of fitness, it’s about mental wellbeing as much as physical and helped me immensely, I’d have been a terrible box walker just laid up at home!”
Having also let nature take its cause with the bone-healing process having taken shape, recent focus has understandably been able to shift, with the rider keen to point out the rate of progress in the last month alone.
“I moved on to doing work in the hydrotherapy pool, I was able to do a lot of flexing of the leg with the help of the water weight and alongside physio it brought me on considerably. It wasn’t long before I was able to move on to a lot of body weight bearing and strength work in the gym."
“I feel stronger than ever and have loved being back on the gallops riding out, yet I couldn’t have envisaged getting to this point so quickly without the input of those at Jack Berry House, they’ve been instrumental in the speed of the process, we’d be lost without them”.
However, Mason, who is all set to make her comeback on the Easterby-trained Carolus Magnus at York on Friday evening, is keen to keep her expectations realistic.
“He had some really solid handicap form to his name for Andrew Balding and joined us from the Horses in Training Sale back in October, he hasn’t run since so this is something of a fact-finding mission.
“Personally, I just can’t wait to be out there riding competitively again.”
It's been a seven-and-a-half week spell that has undoubtedly deviated from her normal but a period that has allowed food for thought as to what constitutes her objectives for the remainder of the season and, with refreshing candour she declares: “I sat down with my now agent Chris Dixon at the start of the season and set about a plan to beat last year’s tally and aim for 50 winners, that hasn’t changed I understand it’s going to be tough now but I’m going to go all out, if anything I’m hungrier and more determined than ever”.
Whilst the 33-year-old is also keen to emphasize that a tilt at becoming Beverley’s leading rider for the second time in three years also sits as a potential target.
“I got off to a flyer on the Westwood earlier this year and even allowing for my absence I’m sat in a share of second as it stands, the track do great work promoting this through their social channels and with eight meetings left this summer I’ve hopefully got every chance of putting myself in the mix”.
Short-term, gathering momentum sits as high priority in what has become a truncated season and in her own words that means: “Things can and do change very quickly in this game but I’ve got my fitness to a level in which I think I can hit the ground running and now the hard work truly begins again, it’s amazing to be back”.
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