Jockey bounces back after fall

IT’S not often that a sportsman is criticised for bouncing back too quickly, but that was the case for emerging jumps jockey Chris Maund at Sandown Racecourse last week.
Maund fell from his mount during the Planinca Hurdle at the Springvale track last Wednesday, only to be poleaxed by a trailing horse as he tumbled to his feet.
The 24-year-old hoop was whisked away by paramedics and later admitted to the Epworth Hospital with a severely bruised back and suspected internal injuries.
The meeting was abandoned soon after the incident due to the extreme high winds.
Maund was initially seen to have committed the cardinal sin of standing up immediately after a fall, but the recovering jockey explained this week that he had merely rolled into the path of Adrian Garraway’s mount, On The Knocker.
“Because the fall was so harmless, I rolled straight back onto my feet,” Maund explained. “And as I stepped up, that’s when the other horse hit me.
“If the fall had been harder I would’ve been back on the ground waiting for the rest of the field to pass me.”
While Maund was later cleared of any internal injuries, he was left counting his blessings this week as he rested up for a return to the track on the weekend.
“After it (On The Knocker) hit me, I couldn’t breathe for about 30 seconds and I couldn’t move my right leg when I went to hospital,” he said.
“So it probably was the worst fall I’ve had.”
The Sandown meet was later abandoned as fierce winds buffeted the track on Wednesday afternoon, and Maund said he had learnt a valuable lesson about riding jumpers in the wind.
He said a stiff tailwind put his mount’s rhythm off approaching the final hurdle.
Given his time over again, Maund said he would have held The Taurean back before accelerating into the last jump.
Maund will jump back into the saddle for rides at Hamilton on Saturday and Sunday.