Borders jockey Jake Dickson marks comeback after injury with eight wins in six weeks

That takes the 19-year-old apprentice’s overall tally of first-placed finishes to 16 and he’s now only four away from riding out his 7lb claim. His winners since getting back in the saddle in May after fracturing three vertebrae in an accident while riding a horse in training in March were Safari Dream at Salisbury in Wiltshire on Thursday, May 14; Perfidia over a mile at both Hamilton in South Lanarkshire the day after and Nottingham today, June 25; Lope Y Lynda over seven furlongs at Catterick in North Yorkshire on Thursday, May 21; Stirrup Cup over almost six furlongs at Carlisle in Cumbria on Monday, June 8; Musical Touch over six furlongs at York on Saturday, June 13; Star Cast over a mile and two furlongs at Ayr on Friday, June 19; and Leadenhall over a mile at Nottingham the day after that.

Perfidia, Stirrup Cup, Lope Y Lynda and Leadenhall – respectively four-year-old bay geldings, a three-year-old brown filly and six-year-old bay gelding – were all trained by his employer, Tim Easterby, at Malton in North Yorkshire; Musical Touch, a five-year-old bay gelding, by fellow Malton handler Richard Fahey; Safari Dream, a six-year-old bay gelding, by Devon’s Rod Millman; and Star Cast, a four-year-old bay filly, by Gemma Tutty at Northallerton in North Yorkshire.

If Dickson carries on racking up wins at the same rate he has been since resuming riding, he’ll go down to a 5lb weight allowance within the next couple of weeks or so and he’s delighted to have hit the ground running after two months out.

“If it keeps going like it is, it’ll probably be within the next month maybe that I’ll go down to a 5lb claim,” he said.

“I was very surprised to get so many wins. I wasn’t expecting it at all, to be totally honest.”

He’s still enjoying learning on the job at Easterby’s yard, he says, explaining: “I’ve kind of got into a routine. I do the same things before every race.

“I’d say in terms of riding, I haven’t changed too much. You just learn lots of different little things that all add up.

“Having a claim helps a lot when you’re learning, so it’ll start to get a bit harder when it goes down.

Looking back at the March mishap that left him needing eight weeks of treatment at Malton’s Jack Berry House, a rehabilitation centre for injured jockeys, he said: “It was just a freak accident while exercising at home.

“I was going to Jack Berry House every day for two months afterwards.

“I still get niggles but it all depends on how busy I’m keeping. If I’m not riding much, I don’t feel it so much, but if I am, I do feel it more.”