It was going to take more than a badly bruised ankle to keep champion jockey Jim Cassidy out of the reckoning for another Group One Epsom Handicap win at Randwick today.
Cassidy twisted his left ankle when he struck it coming out of the barriers in a race at Canterburyon Wednesday.
The 49-year-old, who won the Epsom on Excellerator in 2002, declared he would be fit for the showpiece meeting as he limped out of Canterbury and was true to his word when he rode in a barrier trial at Rosehill yesterday.
"I said I'll be right and I'll be there," Cassidy said. "It's pretty black and sore but I'll be right."
Cassidy rides the John O'Shea-trained Lightinthenite in the Epsom as well as the Chris Waller-trained Kelinni in the Metropolitan. And the Hall of Fame jockey is keen to make his mark during Sydney's biggest spring meeting. "These are the days when you want to come out and fire up," Cassidy said.
