Kody Nestor isn't putting any great pressure on himself in his comeback to racing, but the competitive fire still burns within the returning jockey.
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After more than four years out of the saddle and a hugely successful stint as a trainer in Dubbo, Nestor returned to racing as a jockey earlier this month and scored his first win at Wellington last weekend.
The comeback wasn't something he planned when he shocked the racing community by announcing he was finishing up as a trainer last November and made the move to the mid-north coast.
But, with eight rides now under his belt and four rides booked for Thursday's meeting at Narromine, he's savouring the chance.
"I'm still a little rusty and it's going take me awhile to get back the hang of it but I'm really enjoying it," Nestor said.
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After winning his final race during his previous stint as a jockey on Melbourne Cup day at Dubbo in 2017, Nestor set up as a trainer and went on to become one of the best in the bush.
The Kody Nestor Racing team won more than $1 million in prizemoney in the 2020-21 season but things came to an abrupt halt when he announced he needed to "take a step back and enjoy my life".
"I was having a break away and I had no intention to return to racing for 12-to-18 months. I was going to have a good break," he said.
"Where I'm living up on the coast I was going fishing every day and going to the beach and then it just started raining so I wasn't doing much of that.
"They got me to go in to do a few gallops at Taree one morning and I thought 'this feels alright'. Gallops went from once or twice a week to three or four times and then I was riding jump outs and I started to get the bug back."
He made the decision to go on a diet and see what weight he could drop and after losing 10kg easily and quickly, he decided to push on.
He wasn't keen on much fanfare when he returned to have three rides at Dubbo on April 17, 1622 days since his last competitive race as a jockey, but the congratulations poured in when he won with the Glenn Frazer-trained Akaka Falls at Wellington last Saturday.
"Racing is full of great people and I've got a lot of great friends in the game and I've had greats associations," he said.
"On a personal note, it was just more satisfying than anything else. I've done this for myself and I haven't put any great pressure on myself but to get back, get a winner, and then get the congratulations from everyone was really good so I was happy."
Rain is a threat to the meeting at Narromine, but at the time of print Nestor was locked in to ride Jac's Legacy for Tony Newing, Titration for Aiden St Vincent, the Cindy Monaghan-trained Mishani Trouble and Tracey Bartley's last-start winner Crowdy Bay on Thursday.
Riding now roughly at a maximum weight of 58kg, two rides at Newcastle are also likely for Nestor on Saturday as the comeback continues to gain pace.
"I'm easing my way back into it. The other day at Wellington I felt better again so tomorrow (Thursday) I'm hoping to be right back on top of it," he said.
"I'm going to see how it goes. The hunger and the desire is still there. I haven't lost any of that competitiveness so I'll see what opportunities come up.
"I'm not going to do anything that's going to really put stress on my body. I'm not going to try and ride the weights I used to but in this day and age I think there's plenty of opportunities at the heavier weights.
"At this stage I feel pretty good."
Thursday's seven-race meeting at Narromine is headlined by the annual Diggers Cup and the first event will jump at 1.15pm.
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