MARK DU PLESSIS SET TO MAKE A WELCOME RETURN TO TRACKWORK AFTER AN INJURY ENFORCED LAYOFF

By Graham Potter | Wednesday, August 21, 2024

Mark Du Plessis will be back at trackwork tomorrow morning where he will return to the saddle for the first time since a bizarre incident during the running of the second race at Eagle Farm on June 28 took him out of action.

“It was my first ride of the day and around about the 100m mark it felt like someone hit me over the back with a log,” explained Du Plessis, recalling the incident.

“It was a bit scary. It was just some sort of feeling I’d never had before. You can’t really pick it up in the race.

“Luckily, my horse (Blantons Run) was in fourth place on her own at the time, and when I went to pull her up my right leg had no feeling.

“In the fourth box, I had to ask Nathan (trainer Rochelle Pereira’s partner) to help me off the horse because I just felt very restricted and in a lot of pain.

“To sum that scene up in one word, it was embarrassing for me. It was the last day of the carnival with thousands of people peering into the box wondering what sort of act I was putting on.

“I just don’t like that ‘look at me, I’m in trouble’ type of thing. That’s the bare truth of me. I just don’t like attention, but when your legs are not working there is not much you can do.

“I must give credit to Josh Adams (the Chief Steward). He was very good.

“I was worried about trying to weigh in. I kept thinking that if I didn’t weigh in, I was going to lose fourth place for the connections, but Josh kept telling me to just lie there and relax. He said don’t worry about fourth place, you are going to keep it.

“I said to him please don’t put me on a stretcher in front of all of these people. I asked if he could just get the ambulance to where I was and I would just get in there and go away.

“Obviously when I got to the hospital, I was full of morphine, and I’d had the green whistle, so the pain had subsided somewhat … but it wasn’t pleasant.

“Luckily for me, when I got to the hospital the specialist was already there. He did a few tests and said, I can tell you now, this is a disk related problem.

“I ended up having an MRI on July 5 and, sure enough, there was a disk that was sticking out right into my spinal column. In the first instance, it just needed rest.

“For the next two to three weeks my right leg was pretty sore … it was like I had pulled a hamstring. Went back to the doctor and he was quite amazed that I had any feeling in my right foot at that stage … which was a really good sign, because, if I didn’t, then it meant possible surgery, so we never had to go down that track, thank God.

“They had said to me that they wanted me to give myself a break. They wanted me to get some rest, but they also said, don’t just go home and lie down and do nothing … you have got to keep moving around … but don’t lift anything above your head, don’t lift anything heavy, don’t run.

“That … rest, but keep moving … was a bit confusing for me at first, but now, it’s just all about better managing myself when I come back. I’ve been given the green light to go to trackwork from tomorrow.

"As the doctor said to me, you know your own body. If you can do something, do it … but, for goodness sake, if its starts hurting … stop … so, from now until September 3 will be a trial period riding work to see how I go.

“As I get stronger, I’ll do a bit more … but tomorrow is a start.”

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