Court Rolling After Return from Hand Surgery
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As the Churchill Downs fall meet nears conclusion, veteran jockey Jon Court is sitting comfortably among the leaders, not bad for a rider expected to be out of action a lot longer after suffering serious damage to his right hand in a Kentucky Derby day fall last May.
With two days remaining in the weather-shortened 24-day fall meet, Court is fifth in the jockey standings behind runaway leader Corey Lanerie with 16 wins, and his mounts have earned $495,296.
It's somewhat surprising, considering that doctors advised the 54-year-old Court that he would require a long recuperation period following delicate surgery on his hand.
"I'm fortunate to be back, because they insisted that I be patient," Court said. "They told me not to necessarily expect to be on horseback until sometime in 2015."
The surgery was performed not long after the Churchill Downs mishap and, as promised, it was followed by a long summer and early fall in which his damaged hand underwent multiple therapies. But Court proved to be a wonderful patient.
He has not only beaten both the clock and his doctors' prognosis, but he is far ahead of their most optimistic schedule and is riding successfully at racing's top level.
The most prominent of Court's post-comeback victories was his Thanksgiving Day triumph aboard G. Watts Humphrey Jr.'s 19-1 shot Frivolous in the 99th running of Churchill Downs' Falls City Handicap (gr. II), his first stakes win since his return to the saddle.
But he continues to work to improve that injured hand. Court is on a strong run, but the hand reminds him daily that the work that has led to his speedy recovery is far from complete.
"There may be some after-effects that will be with me for the rest of my life because of the nature of that injury," Court said. "But I'm able to ride, perform my duties on a professional level, and accomplish good results."
"I didn't let up, but I questioned myself many a time. It was really a tough recovery, but everything seems to be in line and continues to get better day-by-day."
Court had a strong ally in his corner in Louisville surgeon Dr. Joseph Kutz, a nationally recognized authority on hand injuries who also is a longtime Thoroughbred owner. Kutz performed the intricate surgery that was the first step on Court's accelerated road to recovery.
"With the multiple fractures they had to reconstruct my entire hand and harvest some tendons and ligaments out of my arm," Court said. "In the process of letting my hand heal, we brought it back through physical therapy and occupational therapy. We did other types of therapy as well; everything from chiropractic treatment on my hand, laser therapy, and nutritional therapy was a big factor.
"Just getting my hand to working again was a challenge. The fingers were bent backwards—they weren't broken, but they were hyperextended and I had to bring them back to function as they were designed. But the hand healed up and it's good."
Court is scheduled to ride 10 horses on Saturday's "Stars of Tomorrow II" program. They include Simply Confection for trainer and father-in-law Jinks Fires in the Golden Rod (gr. II) and Majestico for Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas in the Kentucky Jockey Club (gr. II). He also has mounts in nine of the 11 races on Sunday's closing day card.
After Sunday's program, Court plans to accept some mounts at Turfway Park and perhaps some other venues. But he will be working over the holidays to continue to improve his recovering right hand for a full-time riding schedule at the Oaklawn Park meet that opens Jan. 9.
"I have a theory that the racetrack loves a good comeback," Court said. "I've had a lot of horsemen who rallied behind me and my agent (Steve Krajcir) did a good job, and I've been able to ride some live horses.
"I was really dedicated and came out and working horses on a regular basis and I was able to get back in a groove and make some magic happen. The win in the Falls City was sweet, and we hope to keep the momentum going into the Oaklawn meet."