Melbourne Cup winner Michael Rodd vows to return from yet another injury ahead of bumper summer

Michael Rodd went through hell and back after suffering post-concussion syndrome and spent three years on the sidelines before returning late late year ... only to face another injury battle.

Group 1-winning jockey Michael Rodd has vowed to make yet another return to racing after suffering fractures to his back in a pre-race incident last month.

The 2007 Melbourne Cup winner has taken up a rare form of laser treatment to help recover and get him back in the saddle before the Magic Millions in January, with the champion jockey admitting it was difficult on the sidelines during spring.

Rodd travelled to Melbourne to undertake EVRL laser therapy and has since found a provider in Brisbane to help get him back on track.

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“I fractured my L3 and L4 in my lower back,” he said.

“It’s not as bad as it sounds, it is really small fractures and they are stable.

“I was in pain for the first week, but I have been able to get around and I am almost pain-free now.

“I haven’t pushed myself and I am feeling really well and the lasers are there to just try and speed things up a bit and aid it.

“I don’t have a timeline at the moment, the bones will be OK, but it will be a matter of seeing what damage has been done around it and how I deal with it.”

Michael Rodd is watching the spring carnival from the sidelines. Picture: Alex Treacy

• Iron horse on verge of shock comeback

With a bulging spring resume in Victoria, Rodd said he expected to be able to shortly get himself fit to prepare for a return to racing before the end of the year.

The veteran was coming off a prior knee injury earlier in the year just as he was beginning to gain momentum.

“It isn’t career-ending,” he said.

“It is six weeks for the bone to be fully healed, then hopefully before that I can be running and moving to get me fit.

“It is hard to watch the big races down south because you just want to be out there riding.

“Coming into Magic Millions as well, you always hope to pick up a decent two-year-old going into the carnival because summer is such a good time.

“I came off another injury, I had a first starter at Ipswich which jumped sideways out of the gates and hit my knee, it put me back for about two months and I couldn’t get it right.”

Originally published as Melbourne Cup winner Michael Rodd vows to return from yet another injury ahead of bumper summer