Tegan gets new chance
Jockey grateful simply to return after horror fall
JOCKEY Tegan Harrison has a chance to rewrite her nearmiss Stradbroke Handicap story when she rides Bam’s On Fire in Brisbane today but her primary emotion at the moment is simply being grateful.
The Gold Coaster’s career hung in the balance after a horror fall at Doomben last year when she injured her back, shoulder, sternum and ribs.
It took her most of eight months to get back and just being able to do so changed her outlook on life and riding.
Today in the $350,000 Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) at Eagle Farm, Harrison can rewrite her racing journey.
She gets the chance to win her first Group 1 in a race she came so close to winning on Temple Of Boom who was beaten a half-head when second to River Lad in 2014.
“It’s just exciting for me to be back racing,” Harrison said. “I’m grateful I could get back to the sport I love, as some have not been so fortunate.
“I certainly think of those riders at times like this and don’t take it for granted.”
Harrison, 31, specifically mentions her physio Daniel Jones, surgeon Terry Hammond and acupuncturist Cameron Kent as being key in her recovery and rehabilitation.
“It was more complex than just collarbone surgery,” Harrison said.
“I needed fake ligaments, because the ligaments had torn off. They hold my arm back together, otherwise I wasn’t able to come back racing. Then with my physio, I thought a lot of the stuff I was doing early was pointless, but (Jones) just hammered into me.
“He told me to build these base muscles up first and build them properly so I won’t have problems down the track.
“I have to thank him, because all the work he’s done, I can see the effects of it now.”
Harrison said that despite the extent of her injuries, there was never any consideration given to opting out of her riding career.
“I was pretty keen to get back on a horse,” she said.
“I had a friend to put me back up on my noble steed (early on in the recovery).
“That feeling, I knew I had to get back. I just sat on him, had a little walk, tried to trot, but it hurt too much.
“Then (I) backed off, but I knew it was what I wanted to work back towards.”