ANTHONY Delpech, who sustained serious neck injuries in a fall on 7 April 2018 and has been on the recovery bench since, highly frustrated, rode work for the first time at Summerveld on Wednesday when he put two horses through their paces.

This morning he rode two more at the training track and reported: “I made the one work a bit, did some full pace and there were no problems. My strength is back and that is what I am happiest about. My grip is fine and it feels like I haven’t been away for 10 months at all!”

Delpech said there was no pain in his neck and his arms were fine. “My right leg is not 100%, there is no pain there, just an aggravating burn but this has also improved over the last few months. My physiotherapist said riding work may help the healing process because the working muscles send messages to the brain.”

He has been cycling and gymming to keep fit and said: “My fitness is high, I am glad I kept hard at training all along, I will ride work for at least another month, build up slowly, take a few more horses every morning. I want to be in top shape when I return!”