There have been moments during the past 12 months when Jenny Duggan feared she would never ride again.
But after months of soul searching and various medical treatments, the courageous jockey has celebrated a special victory at Randwick, sooling home Our Bellagio Miss to land her first metropolitan win of the season.
Duggan has only been back riding for two weeks, having been out of the saddle since February when she could no longer ignore the ongoing pain in her neck, the result of breaking it in a race fall in May 2020.
“I had to go to the doctor and make the call that I had to step down and stop riding for a while,” Duggan said.
“I was doing heaps of different things, trying different things.
“To be honest I was thinking, maybe I can’t go back riding.”
After receiving a couple of steroid injections to the affected area, Duggan decided to fly home to her family in Europe to weigh up her next move.
Not only was she unsure if she could ride again, she was unsure whether she should try.
“I went home to see my parents in Sweden and was just contemplating life I suppose,” Duggan said.
“But I just can’t step down yet, I’ve got too much left to do. I love it so much.”
Duggan returned to Australia determined to persevere and get back in the saddle.
She had her first race ride in ten months on December 7 at Warwick Farm and booted home her first winner at Tamworth on December 13 before the coveted Randwick victory on Our Bellagio Miss on Saturday.
“These are the (special) days. You come for one ride that is 20-1 on a hiding to nothing and they win,” Duggan said.
In a race that rapidly changed complexion over the final 150m, Our Bellagio Miss ($61) scored by a half-head over Vowmaster ($6.50) with Lancaster Bomber ($21) another head away third.
Duggan isn’t sure how long her career will be and if her neck issues will rear up again in the future.
But she is driven to make the most of the time she has and savour moments like Saturday.
“It will hold up for as long as it can and when it doesn’t then that’s probably me. But for now it’s good,” she said.
