'It's a miracle I'm able to ride' - Millie Wonnacott returns following lengthy injury layoff

It has been a long road to recovery for jockey Millie Wonnacott, who returns to the saddle for the first time in almost two years after breaking her neck during a fall at the Cheltenham Festival in 2021.

The 25-year-old will ride the Michael Blake-trained Clearance in the 2m½f handicap at Southwell on Sunday, her first appearance since being unseated from Kansas City Chief in the Pertemps Final at the festival.

Returning after a lengthy layoff has the potential to be quite daunting, but Wonnacott is raring to go and relishing the opportunity to ride again.

She said: "I'm not nervous at all, I've been waiting for this moment for so long and it’s really great to get going again. It's been such a long time since everything happened – it’s a miracle I’m able to ride.

"It’s taken a lot of work and I’m totally in debt to Oaksey House, because without them I probably wouldn't be coming back at all. 

"My physiotherapy must have cost thousands because with an injury like mine it was difficult to know what I could and couldn't do."

Wonnacott has had 23 victories from 123 rides, with all her winners coming over jumps, but she has decided to switch to the Flat following her fall. 

Millie Wonnacott wins on Fingerontheswitch at Kempton in January 2020Credit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

Having had little experience in that sphere, she has turned to former jockey George Baker and joint-trainers Harry and Roger Charlton – where she now works – for extra guidance.

Wonnacott said: “It’s definitely a different mindset. I have had just five spins on the Flat as an amateur and it’s all very tactical. 

“I’ve had a lot of people help me with how to ride and what techniques to use because you don’t realise these things when you’re a jump jockey.

“When I started over jumps it was all about getting to the finish line in one piece, not about how to ride a race, so it’ll definitely test me and I’ll have to get used to it.”

It will have been 696 days since Wonnacott’s fall on Kansas City Chief, an incident that resulted in two fractures to her C1 vertebra.

Reflecting on the race at Cheltenham, she said: “The fall itself wasn’t the worst part because I walked away thinking I was absolutely fine. You don’t realise you've broken anything until the adrenaline wears off and you start feeling the pain. 

“A break like that was unusual and the doctors took their time to decide whether or not to operate. I was in a collar for a long time and I was told different things by them because they all had different opinions. Some said I’d never ride again, but others said it’d be fine in time, which proved to be right. 

“It’s been a rollercoaster and I’m glad everything has been sorted out.”

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Millie Wonnacott eyeing return on the Flat after 20 months out with broken neck  

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