It is a year that not many will look back on fondly, but jockey Luke Currie is one of the few that has had a year to remember.
In February, Currie was at Moonee Valley aboard Yulong June when he had a devastating fall the night before he was set to ride raging hot Blue Diamond favourite Hanseatic.
The mishap forced Currie out of the saddle for six months and left him with spinal fractures, broken ribs, a chipped bone in his thumb and a concession to top it all off.
Just months after returning to trackwork riding in August, Currie has wasted no time in recapturing the stellar form he was in prior and topped off a remarkable comeback with a dominant Group 1 Mackinnon Stakes victory aboard Arcadia Queen last Saturday.
It caps off what Currie has described to be a good year despite everything that has happened to him personally as well as all the issues the country has faced away from the race track.
“To be honest, I know I broke my neck and spent six and a half months out of the saddle, but I’ve had a really good 2020 I suppose,” Currie told SEN Track.
“I had a little girl at the start of the year, won the Magic Millions and rode a double on Magic Millions day earlier in the year in January and have a couple of decent Group 1s in the last month or so.
“So, I can’t complain. It’s been a bit hard sitting at home and not being able to do much, but it hasn’t been too bad for me.”
Despite the long recovery, Currie does concede that he still feels some of the pain that he suffered from the fall at the start of the year.
“I feel like when I’m riding or doing anything physical, I haven’t really lost anything, but I can get a bit stiff down through my neck and shoulder blades, probably more sitting in the car and sitting up, that sort of thing,” he added.
“My hands are still a little bit numb, little things like that.”
It is a remarkable show of courage and determination by Currie and he does not plan to stop riding until next month before a short break ahead of the Magic Millions on the Gold Coast in January.
“It all depends what’s happening with COVID restrictions but I’ll ride through till maybe December, have a bit of a break and hopefully go home,” he said furhter.
“I’m from Tassie (Tasmania), and visit my parents for Christmas and then be back up and going and looking towards possibly going to Queensland for the Magic Millions in early January.”