Hammersley returns
GROUP 1-winning jockey Paul Hammersley is back in the saddle at Aquis Park today to try to re-establish himself again at the Gold Coast after his first attempt at a comeback from injury was put on hold because of the coronavirus crisis.
Hammersley, 36, had one ride on February 29 after nine months off the scene recovering from a shoulder injury.
He decided to put the comeback on the backburner when the coronavirus arrived to give himself more time to work on his fitness and getting his weight under control.
“I was planning on coming back then but it was still an effort in keeping my weight down,” Hammersley said.
“That was the main reason. The shoulder is slowly progressing but does have it moments when it flares up, but is has improved.
“I was getting into that routine when the coronavirus hit and we were a bit uncertain as to what was happening then so I took a step back and let it pass a little bit.
“We have more of a routine now and all hands on deck and we will try to press on the best we can.
“I haven’t had anything go wrong with the shoulder and hopefully that can be the case for the next three to six months and it might come back to somewhere near normal.”
Hammerlsey has already started on the comeback trail with two recent rides for Gold Coast trainer John Smerdon for a fourth on Heathrow at Beaudesert on May 3 and a seventh on Peppino at Ipswich on May 17.
Smerdon is hoping to provide Hammerlsey with an early comeback winner when he legs him up on to Inquiry, who is likely to start the favourite in the Open Handicap (1200m).
Hammerlsey has had a good association with Smerdon and was pleased to get the phone call from the Gold Coast trainer.
“John is a good trainer with a relatively small team but a successful team,” Hammersley said.
“He is a good supporter of mine and it was nice to get a phone call from him saying he would like to kickstart you with a winner.”
Smerdon has reported that Inquiry has come through his last-start win at the Gold Coast last week in fine shape and is expecting another bold showing.
“Everything is really well with him, I couldn’t be happier,” Smerdon said.
Hammersley will also be aboard Don’t Waiver in the 1800m Class 3 Handicap for Sunshine Coast trainer Stuart Kendrick.
Both his mounts today have 60kg and Hammersley said he would continue to work on his weight and fitness to get down to a reasonable riding weight. “(I want to) get through them OK and start to get a bit of a roll on now,” he said.
“I have been doing a lot of running and lot of training but there is nothing like race fitness.
“I will just take it slowly and let the race fitness build up gradually and at the same time get my riding weight down very slowly.”