Cassidy considers return to saddle

[Chief Stipe]

Former champion jockey Jim Cassidy is considering swapping the golf course for the racecourse for a return to race riding.

Cassidy has been recovering in hospital with bleeding on the brain and bruising following a car crash.

And after talking to longtime supporter John Singleton he has flagged a potential return to race riding.

He had his last ride at Flemington on VRC Oaks day in 2015 and is one of only seven jockeys to have won the four big races of the Australian turf, the Melbourne Cup, the Caulfield Cup, the Cox Plate and Golden Slipper.

“I was talking to Singo on Saturday and he said ‘Pump when are you going to get the gear back on, the red gloves back on and get back out there’,” Cassidy told RadioTAB.

“I’m going on 56 and my kids are settled and Jeff Lloyd’s still punching them around riding plenty of winner in Queensland.

“Who knows, there might be a chance the Pump could throw them back on, but at this stage the golf course is winning.”

Cassidy said he was mentally fine and the body was in good order and that he was going to catch up with Singleton to talk about life and to see what’s next.

He said the last time he rode a horse was a couple of years ago when he was aboard two of Richard Laming’s gallopers on the beach ahead of the Darwin Cup.

“One thing I say is never. Where there’s a will there’s a way,” Cassidy said.

“Who knows, it (the comeback) could be in the next six months or in the next couple of weeks.”

View the full article