Constitution Hill rider’s winning comeback six months after neck and back fractures
Nico de Boinville, stable jockey to Nicky Henderson, was rushed to hospital after a horror fall at Plumpton in April and has spent the summer recovering
Constitution Hill’s jockey made a winning comeback on his first ride after six months out with injury. Nico de Boinville, Nicky Henderson’s stable jockey, was rushed to hospital in April after he was kicked in the back in a horror fall at Plumpton on Easter Monday.
As a result the 36-year-old missed big race rides on Jonbon at Sandown and was unavailable for Constitution Hill at Punchestown for the first time, though neither horse was successful. It had already been a bruising spring for de Boinville as Constitution Hill fell when odds-on favourite in the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival and came down again when trying to make amends in the Aintree Hurdle at the Grand National meeting.
Constitution Hill was then a well beaten fifth under James Bowen when tackling the Punchestown Champion Hurdle in May.
Riding for the first time since he was injured, de Boinville gained a front-running success aboard The Expensive One in the Dragonbet Born From The Betting Ring Novices’ Handicap Hurdle at Stratford on Monday, his only ride of the day.
All the hurdles in the home straight were omitted due to a low sun, but it made no difference to the Nigel and Willy Twiston-Davies-trained The Expensive One, as the 5-4 favourite immediately went to the front of the field and held off the challenge of Fourtowns to win by two and a quarter lengths.
De Boinville told Racing TV: “I think I’ll come on for the run. He’s a lovely horse and a great horse to come back on. Sammy Twiston-Davies gave me some great instructions early on and thank you to the whole team of the Twiston-Davies’ for putting me up.
“It was tough (being sidelined), it was a fracture of the neck and fractures in the spine so it was a slow summer to start with and just delighted to be back under way. You just want to be back here. We’ll just enjoy today and go and have a good time.”