Robbie Griffiths set for emotional return to the track, four months after potentially life-saving surgery

Group 1-winning trainer Robbie Griffith knows he’s lucky to be alive after doctors found an aneurysm that could have cost him his life. He also realises how lucky he is that his stables are still ticking over.

Leading trainer Robbie Griffiths is eyeing an emotional racetrack return within a fortnight, four months after undergoing brain surgery for an aneurysm he conceded could have cost him his life.

Griffiths had his world turned upside down back in August when an MRI to find out why he was suffering from migraines and dizziness revealed something more sinister.

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The popular Cranbourne trainer was told he needed surgery after doctors found an aneurysm — a bulging blood vessel that had to be treated immediately.

“I was very, very lucky the symptoms I had led me to getting an MRI to detect it … a lot of people don't have that luck and learn the hard way and that can be fatal,” Griffiths said.

“I was extremely fortunate. Unfortunately with aneurysms, there are not a lot of people who get warning signs.”

Asked if the surgery performed by Associate Professor Leon Lai saved his life, Griffiths said: “Absolutely … I was one of the lucky ones.

Group 1 winner The Quarterback and Robbie Griffiths at his Cranbourne stables.

“They said to me when they first detected it, we will get you on the first available (operating) table. There is not a lot of data on how long that condition would have lasted.

“I don't know if I could've lived like that for 10 years or 10 days. No one knows, but thankfully they rectified it quickly.”

Initially, he believed he would only be away from the racetrack for six weeks, but the surgery was more intricate than anticipated and a requirement to pace himself through his recovery meant he couldn’t rush things.

But Griffiths, who has been monitoring his stable remotely via technology as well as communication with his loyal staff throughout most of the time, is planning to be back on track at Flemington on December 14.

His first morning back at the Cranbourne stables at the training track was on the day the stable's talented three-year-old Halvorsen saluted in the final race of the Flemington carnival last month.

“It was like a footballer watching the Grand Final from home,” he joked on Tuesday.

He has been full of praise for the way in which his staff rallied and kept the stable ticking over in his absence, saying it has given him great confidence in the future of Griffiths Racing.

“I was fortunate the four key people — Sarah (Moran) in the office, through to Reid (Balfour), Beth (Schroen) and Jade (Matthews) — have been with me a long time. They have been brilliant.

The Quarterback wins the Group 1 Newmarket Handicap at Flemington in 2016.

“This has made them grow into bigger and better people.”

Griffiths is rapidly approaching full strength again, “testing the batteries” more and is planning to attend all the major yearling sales, starting with the Gold Coast in January.

“We've got some good young horses and I reckon I am going to be 100 per cent right for the yearling sales,” he said.

He hasn't yet worked out whether he will take on a trainer partnership in the future as other stables have done in recent times, but has been blown away by support across the industry.

“It is such a competitive industry but when the chips are down, it really rallies around you,” he said.

“Trainers, jockeys, owners, and staff … nearly everyone has thrown their hat into the ring to see if we needed a hand.”

Andrew Mallyon rides the Griffiths-trained Halvorsen to victory in the Seppelt Drumborg Grand Handicap on Stakes Day at Flemington.

RV REVEALS NEW DIRECTOR

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CURRIE TO CONTEST CONVICTIONS

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Originally published as Robbie Griffiths set for emotional return to the track, four months after potentially life-saving surgery