Hercock hunting stakes success on her return

Just a week after returning to raceday riding, Central Districts jockey Kate Hercock will be hunting stakes success at Te Rapa on Saturday aboard Rareza (NZ) (Exosphere) in the Listed Legacy Lodge Sprint (1200m).

Hercock was sidelined for six months after she was involved in a race fall at Woodville in April, and she was delighted to feel the excitement of raceday competition again at Otaki last weekend, where she had a handful of rides.

“It is nice to be out there again. It was really enjoyable last Saturday,” she said. “You get a bit sick of sitting on the sideline watching your horses go around.”

It’s been a frustrating road to recovery for Hercock, who had to wait two months after her fall before getting an MRI scan, which revealed the state of her injuries.

“I fell off at the end of April and by the time they decided they were going to MRI it (leg), it was eight weeks later,” she said.

“I ruptured a ligament in my ankle and strained my Achilles, and I ended up having ankle surgery.

“They did keyhole surgery on both sides of my ankle and took all the debris out, because I had a couple of bone chips. They scuffed up the bone to try and regenerate cartilage in my ankle. I also had a fracture in my ankle that they didn’t pick up until I had an MRI scan.”

While it was a frustrating process to get to surgery, Hercock said she took the opportunity to go on an overseas holiday to the United States and coincidentally started seeing an expat American chiropractor on her return, who she credits for her quick recovery.

“We are very lucky in Waipuk(urau), we have got a myofascial specialist who has come over from America, he is one of our chiropractors here,” Hercock said. “Without Zeke, I wouldn’t be back riding as soon as I am. He has been amazing.

“We have been using different techniques, and I have had needling, hot cupping and stuff like that.”

Hercock said the surgery was a success and gave her almost instant pain relief.

“Before I had surgery it (ankle) had been really sore and the next day I wasn’t on any painkillers, it was absolutely brilliant,” she said. “I think that is through a lot of the work that we had done with Zeke.”

Hercock said she slowly worked her way back into the saddle and began riding track work last month before returning to raceday riding last Saturday.

“I have slowly started to work horses at home and riding a couple of quiet ones, just to start trotting,” she said.

“I couldn’t bend my ankle, it would just lock frozen. With all the damage in my joints everything had just seized up. It was just trying to get the ankle to bend, and once we did that, for four weeks all I did was trot.

“I started riding work and I was probably riding work for a month before I came back riding on raceday.

“I push pretty hard. You get to the point where you get so disappointed that you spot your horses that you normally ride going around and they are winning nice races, and you can’t ride.”

With her raceday return under her belt, Hercock is now looking forward to heading north to Te Rapa on Saturday, where she has half a dozen rides. She is particularly grateful for the support of trainer Cody Cole, who has entrusted her with the stakes ride aboard Rareza in the Legacy Lodge Sprint and allowed her to ride a kilo over her allocated weight.

“His team is flying and he does a bloody good job with his horses,” Hercock said. “It is just nice that you have got someone like him that is willing to back you and put you on.

“I have had to waste pretty hard to do it. I have got down to 54, there is no way I could make 53, and I appreciate that he has put me on at 54. It is nice that he has stuck with me, I really appreciate that.

“He has always been good to me, so it would be nice to give something back.”

Hercock is upbeat about Rareza’s chances on Saturday and is hopeful of a bold showing following her first-up win over 1200m at Otaki last month.

“She (Rareza) is a lovely, big mare, and she has got plenty of toe,” Hercock said. “I think she is a very good ride.”

Hercock is not the only jockey on the comeback trail at Te Rapa, with Sam Spratt set to make her return following a 20-month absence. Meanwhile, Queensland-based hoop Mark Du Plessis was set to make his return to New Zealand after eight years, but he unfortunately suffered injuries in a race fall at Ipswich on Thursday, which have ruled him out of riding at Te Rapa.

While Hercock is excited to be riding on Saturday, she will also be keeping a close eye across the Tasman where her regular mount, Manzor Blue (NZ) (Almanzor), will contest the Gr.3 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2600m) at Flemington.

Hercock rode the Lisa Latta-trained mare to victory in January’s Gr.3 Wellington Cup (3200m) before the pair reunited when runner-up in the Gr.2 Auckland Cup (3200m), and Hercock said she would love the Go Racing mare to get on the board in Australia for her syndicate.

“I am looking forward to Manzor Blue in the Queen Elizabeth tomorrow,” she said. “She has drawn two and I wish all the team the best. A lot of the owners have texted me while I have been off to see how I am. It is a really cool syndicate of people, and I just hope that the mare can pull one off over there for them because they are just the neatest people.”