Williams plans race day return
Friday’s horror race fall is one Kylie Williams would rather forget but unfortunately, she can remember every crunching detail.
Williams, who has ridden 650 winners in her decorated career, was slammed into the turf when her mount Deebee Black fell just 175 metres short of the finishing post in race three at Phar Lap Raceway.
As bad as the sound of her bones crunching against the Phar Lap surface and the immediate pain that shocked through her body was, Williams knows how lucky she is to escape any serious injuries.
‘‘Someone must have been watching over me. It could have been much worse,’’ she said on Thursday.
Williams, who has already ridden 32 winners in the current season, spent Friday night in Timaru hospital but was discharged on Saturday.
The popular Canterbury jockey is bruised and battered but is aiming to be back riding at Ashburton on July 7.
Exactly what caused the fall, that was free of interference, remains unknown.
Stewards inspected the racing surface in the vicinity of the fall but could not detect any apparent cause. Deebee Black was uninjured in the fall.
‘‘It just happened so fast, there was no warning, all of the sudden he just dropped his head and down we went,’’ Williams said.
‘‘I remember hitting the ground and feeling a crunching feeling around my neck, rolling over and thinking that really hurt and then the horse rolled over me and I was swearing at how heavy he was.’’
The fall looked awful but it will take more than a fracture to a collarbone and a medial ligament strain to her knee to keep the plucky Williams away from the races for too long.
‘‘The doctor has put me out to the end of the month but hopefully, I will be back after that,’’ Williams said. ‘‘It’s not too bad, I can walk around. The bruising is coming out now so it’s still a bit sore.’’
The straight shooting jockey is in good spirits and has not lost her sense of humour.
‘‘I’m starting to think the Timaru racecourse doesn’t like me as that’s the third time I’ve fallen there.’’
Williams said she was immensely grateful to everyone who has sent well wishes and messages of support in the days after Friday’s fall.
She plans to give herself three weeks off to rest her injuries and then have a week easing herself back into riding with track work.
Williams will have another check on her collarbone on June 16. She has broken the same collarbone twice before but is optimistic she can make her return in one month’s time.