'I was in an induced coma and very, very lucky to survive - but then I had to prove I was still good enough and the accident hadn't knocked me'

Clifford Lee has had more tough breaks than your average jockey, so it really wasn't his turn for another.

At a bustling Pontefract fixture in the build-up to York's Ebor festival, Karl Burke's stable jockey is still coming to terms with the possibility that Venetian Sun has run her last race, his cheery demeanour masking the pain of losing his most important ride.

With all the hullabaloo of the West Yorkshire track's ladies' day in the background, this is not the ideal setting to coax the thoughts of a softly spoken rider, but we manage to find a quietish corner.