Horse racing: Opie Bosson nears return to racing, Bailey Rogerson continues to improve

Opie Bosson could be back riding next week after missing nearly a month. Photo / Trish Dunell

Champion jockey Opie Bosson is almost ready to resume his comeback.

Almost.

Bosson has been out of the race-day saddle since suffering a head knock when thrown off his mount in Race 2 at Avondale on November 6.

He failed a concussion test the next day, which ruled him out of New Zealand Cup week and he has only just resumed riding track work.

“I was disappointing to miss Cup week but looking back now, it was for the best,” Bosson said.

“It was quite a strange feeling, like my brain was heavy and a bit foggy but I am feeling better now.

“I have been back riding track work and I’d like to be back riding next week if I can, but I have to pass the concussion test first.”

Bosson announced a short-lived retirement last December but soon found form upon his return in August and ended up in the unusual position of being on top of the premiership in October.

He has rarely taken enough rides, sometimes because of his weight, in the last decade to be a premiership contender but was looking like one until the Avondale mishap.

His premiership chances have all but disappeared with defending champion Craig Grylls racing to an 18-win lead in the jockey’s ranks over Bosson, who sits second equal with Joe Doyle on 28 wins for the season.

Bosson also sits on 99 career Group 1 wins in New Zealand and while it is only a matter of time before he reaches the century here, he will have limited opportunities between now and the end of the year.

The TAB Mufhasa Mile at Trentham on Saturday week and the Cambridge Stud Zabeel Classic at Ellerslie on Boxing Day are the only Group 1 races still to be run this year, although the Group 1 action kicks off quickly in the New Year with the TAB Telegraph at Trentham on January 3.

Rogerson making progress

Injured apprentice Bailey Rogerson continues to make progress in Waikato Hospital.

The 24-year-old was injured in a race fall at Rotorua 12 days ago and spent several nights in the Intensive Care Unit there in an induced coma, because of concerns about possible complications from a head injury.

She was brought out of that coma last week and moved to the Neurological Ward, where her condition has continued to improve.

“She was taken off the breathing machine and has even started to eat a bit so we are hoping the feeding tubes can be taken out soon too,” her father Gary Rogerson told the Herald.

“She is making slow progress but a little every day and while she is sleeping a lot, she can communicate when she is awake.

“As long as she keeps making those little improvements, we will be happy, but we realise these things take time.”

Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.