PJ McDonald’s patience was rewarded when Flora Of Bermuda provided him with a significant success at York following an injury-enforced absence.
A fall at Wolverhampton in February saw the rider dislocate his shoulder, and the injury proved a severe one that required a complex operation. The operation was followed by extensive physiotherapy, undertaken at Jack Berry House, and the four-and-a-half months McDonald spent recuperating could easily have been longer given the extent of the injury.
He took his first ride since the fall at Carlisle on Thursday and then headed to York to partner Flora Of Bermuda in the Group Three William Hill Summer Stakes on Friday afternoon.
The grey is trained by Andrew Balding and usually ridden by Oisin Murphy, under whom she won the Alice Keppel at Goodwood last season before finishing second behind Big Evs in the Flying Childers at Doncaster.
This year she was most recently the runner-up of the Listed Scurry Stakes at Sandown, where she was beaten just a head by Rod Millman’s Adaay In Devon. On the Knavesmire she was a 14/1 shot as the market favoured William Haggas’ Unequal Love, with Adaay In Devon also present in the field and a 7-2 chance.
Flora Of Bermuda was also stepping back up to six furlongs, a move that seemed to suit her as she was ridden patiently by McDonald and produced from the rear of the field in the final furlong to prevail by three quarters of a length from Millman’s filly.
“Andrew and Oisin were confident this filly was a lot a better than her mark. They were confident in her ability at this level,” said the winning jockey. “Things haven’t gone quite her way, she got herself in a bit of a mess the first day (eighth in the Temple Stakes) and in another stride she would have won at Sandown the last day. Stepping up that furlong she gave me a lovely spin, and the race was very smooth which is important.”
Of his return to the saddle McDonald added: “It’s always a worry when you’re coming back and you don’t have a stable job to slot into. You wonder where the winners are going to come from and then, more to the point, where the good winners are going to come from. To come to York today and nick a Group race can really help me move forward. It’s a good confidence booster for myself. It was a nasty injury, it was just so complicated because there was so much damage done.
“I have to say hats off to Dan Henderson, the surgeon at Spire Health, he’s done an amazing job to get me back on track. The team at Jack Berry House and the Injured Jockeys Fund, I can’t thank them enough. I never can. That’ll give me a bit of momentum now, hopefully it’ll make my agent’s job a bit easier to get me some rides and let everyone know I’m back fit, hungry and ready to go.”
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