The best thing you can do when you fall off a horse is get back on it again.
Ok, that might be a variation on a saying, but the principle essentially remains true. It’s all about putting the incident behind you and allaying any fears that might linger as a result of the fall.
Well, Michael Cahill didn’t have that opportunity after coming off the Jan Pritchard trained chestnut gelding Why We Drink at the Sunshine Coast back on December 3 last year … not because of any failing on his part, but because the injury he suffered did not allow him to do so.
Cahill went down on that day when Why We Drink clipped heels, and he came away from the incident with a stable fracture of the C4 vertebra and a fractured left shoulder blade.
Fast forward a full seven months to Saturday at Doomben where Cahill, who had completed his lengthy rehabilitation, was ready to have his first race ride back after his long layoff.
With the huge number of horses in training and Cahill’s randomly selected comeback date, what do you think the odds would have been on the chances that the first horse waiting for Cahill to be given a leg-up onto on his first race-day back would be the self-same Why We Drink.
But, by some incredible quirk of fate, it was!
“Yeah, I can’t remember that happening before. It’s certainly never happened to me and probably not to most other people too.
“As it turned out, he ran a nice race,” was Cahill’s comment after Why We Drink, a $61 outsider, ran way above expectations when finishing second behind the very talented Uncommon James, who was winning for the fourth time in five starts.
But Cahill would end the day with much more to smile about than that second placing after he produced a pearl of a ride in a high pressure, blanket finish in the last race to get the Lindsay Hatch trained Wham home by the narrowest of margins.
“To get a winner on my first day back is great,” said Cahill. “I thought I’d probably get found out having to ride pretty hard like that in a close finish but, to be honest, I’ve given myself a good preparation. I’ve done a lot of cycling and running … and plenty of trackwork now.
“I’m happy enough with where I’m at … which is probably about ninety percent. There is a little bit of improvement there. I still need some race fitness obviously, and that will come over the next couple of weeks.”
Cahill won that last at Doomben on Saturday and then he picked up from where he left off by bringing home another winner, the Stuart Kendrick trained Choir Boy, in his first ride at the Sunshine Coast on Sunday.
These two winners gave Cahill a welcome, well deserved early reward for the patience and perseverance he has shown in dealing with his recovery, because, make no mistake, it has been a hard road back.
“It has been a difficult time, particularly in the early stages of recovery,” admitted Cahill.
“Because of the fracture to the C4 and also the scapula I had to wear a neck brace and a sling. I like to stay active when I’m not riding, but there wasn’t much I could do, because it was a pretty dicey back injury.
“Then, when I was well enough to start riding work … I wouldn’t say it was stop and start … but I just took a while to get going because I was getting a bit of pain in my neck where the injury happened.
“The specialist said it was probably just the muscles around it and probably a bit of wear and tear that had flared up because of it, so I was happy to just keep increasing the work gradually.
“I was happy to take it slowly … that’s why it took a bit longer than I had originally hoped … but I wanted to reach the stage where I could ride five or six in trackwork and not have any pain and I eventually got there.
So it is that Cahill could not have asked for a better return to race riding action. The smile said it all. He was just happy to be back, and the winners were a real bonus … and everybody was as pleased for Cahill as he was for himself.
It really was a case of a heartfelt ‘Welcome back Michael Cahill’ by all for one of the nicest guys in racing.
