Daniel Edmonds’ profile as a jockey may not be big enough to earn him a ride in today’s Melbourne Cup at Flemington, but he still goes through the same danger zone every time he gets legged up on a horse.
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Derby Day races at Dubbo on Saturday couldn’t come quick enough for the Forbes rider because five and a half months ago at Gilgandra he was forced to put his career on hold when seriously injured in a race fall.
The Dubbo meeting was his comeback to racing and he admitted having a few butterflies.
“May 8 it was, I can remember it like it was yesterday,” he said.
“The result was that I finished up with five screws in my left arm and wrist which was broken in three places. There was also tendon problems plus other issues later on during the healing stages.
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“But I’ve worked hard on getting back to fitness and my medical reports have been good so I’m hopeful everything is okay.
“I’ve been riding track work for about a month and more recently had some jump outs in Orange.”
While the 23-year-old jockey is working his back into racing the current big rate of meetings is in his favour. He had rides at Dubbo, then at Parkes on Sunday and today he will be at Orange.
At 3pm today in between races three and four at Orange Edmonds will be with his fellow riders in the jockey’s room watching the Cup unfold. He will be watching every move and rejoicing when the winner gets over the line - and more importantly every jockey gets safely through the 3200 metres.
Edmonds doesn’t earn anywhere near as much as some of the top jockeys riding in the Melbourne Cup, but he enjoys a job that has been part of his life for the past eight years.
He was an early starter into racing starting with Mark Mason at Tamworth when he was 15.
He then moved to Hawkesbury when he spent a lot of valuable time learning the trade with Wanda Ings.
Hopefully Edmonds’ last fall was his last but he’s the first to admit he’s in a dangerous industry.
