'I'll just be thankful to be back' - Brooke close to return after serious injury

Jump jockey Henry Brooke is set to return to action in around a fortnight, having made a quicker-than-expected recovery after breaking three vertebrae in his neck.

He had feared he would be out of action until at least March, after suffering the injury in a schooling fall in November that was just inches away from leaving him paralysed.

"I'm hoping to be back on the track on either February 10 or 11," the rider said. "I need to speak to Dr Jerry Hill and I've got a few tests to do but I'm pretty sure I'll pass.

'I didn't think it was that serious' – broken neck sidelines Henry Brooke

"I'm in great order and I've got more muscle tone than I've ever had in my life. I've been in the gym from four weeks after the fall. I did two weeks with the solid neck brace on, another two with a soft collar and I'm now in my fourth week with no collar at all.

"I was on to it from early on and that's half the reason I'm going to get back so soon. There's no trace of the injury in my neck, I feel absolutely fine and I can do whatever I want in the gym."

Brooke, 30, had ridden 17 winners since the start of the current season when he suffered the fall during schooling at Oliver Greenall's yard in Cheshire in November.

Reflecting on his absence, the former champion conditional jockey, who rode his first Grade 1 winner on Cornerstone Lad in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle last season, said: "It feels like it's been a long time and I wouldn't fancy much longer. I think everything I've ever sat on has come out and won!

"But as I said at the time of my injury it could have been worse. I don't know what there will be left to sit on but even if I have to start at the bottom again that doesn't matter, I'll just be thankful to be back on the track and doing something I enjoy."

Henry Brooke: 'I think everything I've ever sat on has come out and won'Credit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

His layoff did at least mean that he was on course when his younger brother Danny trained his first winner, on the Flat at Newcastle early this month.

"I wouldn't have been there in normal circumstances so that was one good thing that came out of it," he said. "We've got plenty of horses for the summer and I hope he can give me a leg-up on a few winners!"

Read more:

Big day for Danny Brooke as one of Britain's youngest trainers bags first winner

Grand National-winning rider David Mullins quits the saddle aged just 24

Cornerstone Lad shocks dual champion Buveur D'Air in Fighting Fifth

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