Barend Vorster’s hopes of returning to the saddle for the upcoming Adelaide Autumn Carnival are fading due to ongoing concussion symptoms. The reigning John Letts Medal winner suffered an innocuous head knock while riding Chicago Storm at Morphettville last month, which has resulted in headaches, dizziness and double vision that are still plaguing his everyday life.
Although he didn’t lose consciousness at the time of the incident, Vorster was forced to stand himself down later that afternoon as his concussion symptoms worsened in the hours and days afterward. He is currently receiving weekly treatment and is in regular consultation with Racing SA’s medico, Dr Steve Kennett, regarding his condition.
“At the moment I’m doing okay under the circumstances, but things haven’t really got a lot better,” Vorster said. “Apart from the physio, there’s not much else I can really do so it’s just a case of being patient and hoping for some improvement.”
As a result of his condition, Vorster missed last Monday’s Adelaide Cup meeting and the recent Magic Millions meeting at Murray Bridge. He is growing increasingly frustrated with letting key rides go begging in the build-up to the Adelaide Carnival and missing out on some nice horses that have targets during the carnival.
“I’d love to be able to have a timeline and say to myself ‘Okay, you can start doing some exercise, increasing walks and maybe go for a workout,’ and then if I’m able to cope with those sorts of things, I can start to think about getting back on a horse,” Vorster said.
The first of four-consecutive weekends of Group 1 racing in Adelaide will be held at Morphettville on April 29. Despite his absence from the saddle for the past month, Vorster still occupies second place on the Adelaide Jockeys’ Premiership, five wins behind leader Jake Toeroek.