She was knocked out for three minutes, suffered seizures on the track and was hospitalised after a three-horse fall at Wagga last week, but promising Canberra apprentice jockey Carly Frater has told trainers she is desperate to continue her burgeoning career.
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Canberra's champion hoop, Brendan Ward, was involved in the same falllast Friday. The 41-year-old suffered a fractured C2 vertebra, which will require him to wear a neck brace for up to three months.
Frater was hospitalised for two nights after the fall, had plastic surgery to mend a gash on her face and then drove to Sydney on Thursday to have a metal plate attached to her broken collarbone, aiming to speed her recovery.
Patrick Murphy will take Frater's main ride in the eight-race meeting at Canberra's Thoroughbred Park on Friday, aboard Bank On Henry, the three-year-old gelding Fraterrode to a second and win in his first two starts.
While trainer Paul Jones is confident of Bank On Henry's chances inthe 1600-metre third event, he has even more faith that Frater will return to racing soon.
The 27-year-old from Scotland had to wait almost 12 monthsbefore getting her apprenticeship with the Joseph & Jonesstable because of visa delays.
"She was getting around the stables yesterday with her arm in a brace, she's on track," Jones said on Thursday.
"Obviously she's a bit shaken, but a lot more relieved now it looks like everyone is going to have a 100 per cent recovery.
"She's definitely not giving it up, she loves it and it's what she wants to do. She hasn't expressed any nervous jitters yet."
Trainer Barbara Joseph also backed her to bounce back.
"The whole field went over her, so she's a very lucky girl. She wanted to be back racing in two weeks, but I told her there's no way a collarbone will be fixed by then.
"She's going great, she's ridden four winners and out-rode her 4kg claim already, so it's hard to say what she's going to be like. But she's strong, dedicated and she wants to ride winners."
Jones said Bank On Henry's owners had "taken a shine to Frater".
He expects the bay gelding to run strongly after his first win, at Canberra, two weeks ago.
"He's a progressive horse, a younger horse, but he's drawn a good gate [six]," Jones said. "If he stays the mile, which I don't think will be an issue, he'll be hard to beat again."
