Jockey Nash Rawiller targets February return from dislocated shoulder injury
The Sydney premiership winning rider has been sidelined since the first week of January but is edging closer to a return.
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Injured star hoop Nash Rawiller is on track to return on the eve of Sydney’s autumn carnival with the premiership-winning rider eyeing a comeback to the saddle early next month.
Rawiller hasn’t ridden since suffering a dislocated right shoulder at the Magic Millions Sunlight meeting on January 4 at the Sunshine Coast.
The Group 1-winning rider avoided surgery and has been rehabilitating over the past four weeks in a bid to get back in time for a blockbuster few months of racing in Sydney.
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Rawiller is planning to ease his way back into riding in February.
“I am planning to return to trackwork around the first week of next month,” Rawiller said.
“I fortunately didn’t need surgery and have been working on it rehab wise.
“I am happy with the way it has come along and it’s just important to put all that groundwork in before I come back to have it rock solid again.
“The plan is to ride a couple for Chris (Waller) and Gai and Adrian and ease my way in to get a bit of confidence with it to make sure it’s all right and go from there.”
Rawiller was in a rich vein of form before the untimely setback, booting home 13 Sydney city winners in five weeks at the back end of 2024.
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Rawiller will return to the saddle when he pilots Here To Shock for Lindsay Park in the Group 1 Waikato Sprint (1400m) at Te Rapa on February 8.
He is hopeful of making a race day return in Sydney midway through February with the feature meeting on the 15th at Royal Randwick on the agenda.
The meeting will see the running of the Group 2 $300,000 Expressway Stakes (1200m), Group 2 $300,000 Apollo Stakes (1400m) and Group 2 $300,000 Light Fingers Stakes (1200m).
The Sydney jockeys’ room is without two of its most experienced and sought after riders with Tommy Berry also sidelined after suffering a serious neck injury in a race fall on Saturday.
Berry is in a neck brace due to a fractured vertebrae in his neck after being dislodged from Step Aside at Randwick.
He was optimistic about returning in time for the Group 1 $5m Golden Slipper in March.
Originally published as Jockey Nash Rawiller targets February return from dislocated shoulder injury
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