SKYE'S ON FIRE

There are comebacks ... and there are comebacks.

Take Maldivian. Revisit that extraordinary moment twelve months ago when the gelding was led away from the start of the Caulfield Cup with blood streaming from a wound suffered in the barriers. Then fast-forward to Maldivian’s brave Cox Plate success on Saturday and the nature of a well-deserved comeback is complete.

Take apprentice jockey Skye Bogenhuber. Go back to July and understand the brutal nature of the accident she was involved in when the horse she was riding smashed into a tractor after winning a barrier trial at Gatton. The crash cost the horse its life and left Bogenhuber with injuries which, for the short-term at least, translated into her having to face life with an uncertain future.

Then fast-forward to the last three days in which Bogenhuber rode a treble at Toowoomba on Friday, a double at Toowoomba on Saturday and added another win on her only ride at the Sunshine Coast yesterday. Six wins in three days. Talk about a brave comeback. Bogenhuber’s successful return has been a very special effort.

“My biggest injury worry after the accident was that I’d lacerated a kidney,” said Bogenhuber. “Doctors were very concerned about that. At one stage, they thought I might lose the kidney.

“Luckily that didn’t happen. I ended up losing just five percent of the kidney. It was just a healing process that I had to go through and it kept me out of action for about two months. So really it was a relatively quick return for me, although getting up to match fitness took a little bit longer.”

Bogenhuber was on loan to the Tony Gollan stable when the accident occurred and she is now permanently attached to the Toowoomba based trainer, who has his own view on Bogenhuber’s resilience.

“She just wanted to get right back into it,” said Gollan. “She’s a really hard worker - and she has had to work hard to get where she is. Skye didn’t grow up riding horses or anything like that. She’s had to learn from scratch.

“The accident couldn’t have happened at a worse time, because she was just starting to hit her straps. It set her back, not right back to the start obviously, but, in a way she almost had to start over again.

"I’m sure she had a bit of mental anguish about race riding when she came back, and to a degree she probably still has, but she has put in a lot of work with the apprentice school. She has also had the help of a lot of the senior riders up here and her whole support base, and it is really good to see her getting a reward for all of her hard work. Six wins in three days is a really good result.”

For Bogenhuber herself, it was a weekend to be enjoyed, but not dealt upon. With the same focus that carried her through adversity, she was more interested in what lies ahead.

“Six winners in three days is great,” said Bogenhuber. “Now I have to keep it going.”

Statistics taken from her home track of Toowoomba since her return to competitive action suggest she will do just that.

Bogenhuber has been back in the saddle for the last seven meetings at Toowoomba during which time she has had thirty rides, for seven wins (four of which were produced by Tony Gollan), three seconds and three third placings.

That gives her a 23.33 winning percentage and 43.33 place percentage ... and like Tony Gollan, says, she’s still learning.

Maldivian might reached the top of his league in his superb comeback this weekend. At the same time, Skye Bogenhuber's six wins confirmed that she too has passed an acid test and is on her way up.

There are comebacks ... and there are comebacks.