KINGSTON, Jamaica - Current leading female apprentice rider, Samantha Fletcher, said that while she is not a 100 per cent fit, she is delighted to be back in the saddle riding competitively again.
Fletcher, the winner of 10 races from 338 mounts, was aboard the Cashbert Khwalsingh-trained Matriarch in the fourth race on Wednesday last (March 4). Fletcher and Matriarch came home in 10th place in the 11-horse field.
“It feels good. It feels great to be back in the saddle riding again after three months away with injury. I am so proud of myself knowing that I went through so much pain, but now I am back where I belong.
“I thought that actually [riding] in a competitive race would have been worse, but I was surprised. I thought I was going to be uncomfortable in the saddle, but there was no pain during the race, and I am happy for that,” Fletcher told this publication shortly after her return race.
Fletcher fell on the exercise track on December 26, 2019. She was aboard a two-year-old before she fell from the young horse and was kicked in the side. Fletcher was then taken to hospital for treatment, where she discovered that she had some internal damage.
Following a visit to a nephrologist (doctor specialising in diseases of the kidney), on January 14, the popular female apprentice was informed that she also had a cracked rib and was advised to rest for an additional six weeks at home.
Fletcher, after making it known that there is no place she would rather be than in the saddle, added: “I am giving myself two full weeks to be 100 per cent. The support that I have been getting is tremendous. I mean, the encouragement and guidance I have been getting motivated me, and I appreciate it a lot. Thanks to everybody for the support and guidance along the way, and I am going to continue to do my best every time.”
