Jockey Philip Makin has made the unfortunate decision to retire form the sport as a rider due to injury but will be heading into the life of a trainer.
Makin took a horrible fall back in August 2018 on board Eyecatcher at Redcar and he went on break a bone in his neck and seriously hurt his back that ultimately saw him call it a day on the track.
He could not leave the sport with his love and experience in it and now going into training setting up in North Yorkshire he could be a real bright spark.
(credit At The Races) Makin said: “I don’t know how long I’d have left riding – probably four or five years. I had it at the back of my mind a little bit and it just accelerated with that fall.
“It was quite nasty. I don’t know if I could have come back. It just speeded up that process.
“The recovery was slow. It was very sore for a long time and I still am a little bit to some degree. It was mainly my back and my neck. I’d already done my back a few years previous, but it was a worse job this time.
“It was on the back-burner a little bit before I got that fall. It was just a natural follow on that we got cracking really.”
Makin could have his first runner next week and it would a really emotional occasion for everyone involved if he could get off the mark at the first time of asking.
He added: “I got my licence 10 days ago. I didn’t have anything immediately to run, but hopefully by the end of the month we’ll have something.
“I made my first entry for Wednesday next week. There’s a horse at Southwell that might go there and there might be a horse at Doncaster for their first meeting.
“There’s about 23 at the minute. We’ve got space for quite a few more. It will keep us busy enough.”
Makin has had a stellar career that although being cut short saw him win some nice races and he recalled some of his highlights in the saddle.
“My first Royal Ascot winner for Kevin Ryan in the Norfolk (on Batak Chinta in 2011) was special,” he said.“More recently a four-timer on John Smith’s day at York was probably the highlight. It was an unbelievable day.”
The now ex-jockey gained his first competitive winner back in 2002 and went on to secure more than 900 total wins during his career.
His best ever season came back in 2009 where he went on to win 111 races in the season.