CHESHIRE HOPES FORTUNE SMILES ON RIDING RETURN
JOCKEY Laura Cheshire is hoping lightning doesn’t strike twice when she teams up with trainer Angela Plumb again today.
Cheshire lost her bridle in last Friday’s ride on the Plumb-trained Secret Blend at Murwillumbah and spent three laps managing to avoid major injury to both her and the horse before coming to a stop. The experienced 33-yearold hoop will partner with Gold Coast-based Plumb when she rides Dragon Racer at Tony Williams Memorial Maiden Plate (1666m) at Ipswich today.
Cheshire has had seven rides since the incident – including a win on Sky Classic on the same day.
Cheshire said she had no lingering hesitations about racing despite the unlucky situation she found herself in last week, pointing to her ability to bounce back from previous “broken necks and legs”.
“I’m not too worried,” Cheshire said.
“I have broken my neck in a race fall before so if anything was going to make me nervous about racing again it would have been that.
“Generally lightning doesn’t strike twice so im hoping in my lifetime I don’t have to go around without a bridle again. Obviously the bit just shattered inside and the pin has broken out which is why it has given way.”
Cheshire said that it was one of the most bizarre incidents she has been involved in, more challenging than when she lost a saddle during a race.
“That was pretty scary but I managed to pull him up,” Cheshire said.
“I managed to pull him up where as with Secret Blend I had no way of pulling him up to do anything other than try and steer him as best I could using what I had on his neck.”
Cheshire has been inundated with attention since Friday and a video she posted on her Facebook page of the race has attracted over 55,000 views while she has been contacted by people from the US, Germany and Sweden.