The Valley - Friday 26th February 2021

4 DWAYNE DUNN MAKES A WINNING RETURN TO THE VALLEY After suffering a serious neck fracture leading up to the 2020 Spring Carnival, Dwayne Dunn was told by surgeons he was lucky to escape becoming a quadriplegic, but two rides is all it has taken for the champion jockey to return to the winner’s enclosure. It’s been five-and-a-half months since Dunn suf- fered that horrific injury when Shot Of Irish reared at the gates, but fate was on his side last Friday night when Cielo D’oro came storming home from the tail of the field to take out the last race at The Valley. Crossing the line with a clenched fist in the air, it wasn’t the usual celebration you’d see for a bench- mark 70 race, but for the 24-time group 1 winner this is how much it meant. “It’s been a long, windy road. “The first four weeks after it happened, I felt terrif- ic, I thought I could get straight back on a horse. “Then it all just went pear-shaped from there.” The 2016/17 Scobie Breasley Medal winner was hoping to make a return to riding much sooner than he has, but in November last year Dunn’s specialist delivered him more bad news that his recovery wasn’t going to plan and that he wouldn’t be riding again until early in the new year. In the post-race interview with Racing.Com, Dunn spoke about the measures he had taken to get his body right to return to race-riding and likened it to a sporting pre-season. “I’m fitter than I ever have been. I run, skip, I ride a lot of trackwork, which I wasn’t doing before. “But it’s just like match practise, getting out there and running around the field really.” The 47-year-old has ridden a remarkable 2185 winners and amassed well over $100 million in prizemoney since his first race ride in 1989, but considering the long road to recovery, Friday night’s victory felt like a whole new kind of milestone. “I could’ve been in a wheelchair, quadriplegic and never ride again. “Never play golf, never live a normal life. “It’s pretty satisfying to do the hard yards, the pre-season and then come out and execute that tonight.” The ride was Dunn’s only booking for the night, so it was also a fitting result he could return to form so quickly here at The Valley and perhaps lay some demons to rest. “It’s great to be back. “I just have to thank everyone in the racing commu- nity for their support and well wishes. “I’m so proud to be back and let’s hope I have a lot more to offer.” An illustrious career stemming 33 years, Dwayne Dunn’s time in the saddle is still far from over and everyone in racing wishes him well as he plots a path for further success going forward.