Rex Dingle
Rex Dingle is on the mend after breaking his lower right leg in a bizarre incident at Taunton in March. However, he is resigned to missing the summer season at least.
Taking up the story Rex says: “I was riding a horse called Crest Of Arms for my boss Anthony Honeyball in a bumper when he seemed to go wrong at the top of the back straight after only a furlong or two. He was basically uncontrollable and galloped into a concrete fence post on the outer perimeter. My ankle hit the post and I knew it was broken.
“Behind the fence I hit there was a 10 foot drop, and when I looked down to the horse he was motionless, but weirdly enough as I was being loaded into the ambulance I saw him come back up the bank as bright as a button!”
Rex was operated on at the Nuffield in Taunton, where he says they reconstructed a ligament and put screws in the ankle and an eight-inch plate in his fibula.
He says: “I’m not too sure how long I’ll be out, but the surgeon said six months. It’s frustrating, but I’ve already missed April and I wouldn’t normally be that busy through the summer, so there’s no great hurry. I’ll concentrate on the rehab and make sure I’m back in good shape for the autumn and winter.”
It’s not the first time he has had a lengthy spell on the sidelines, but the neck injury he suffered as an in-demand conditional back in 2019 wasn’t at the worst time either for a jump jockey, and the consequences of that one could also have been a lot worse.
Rex had the cast removed in mid-April and he is now hobbling around in a boot. He says: “I can shuffle about a bit without crutches now and I’ve started using the IJF’s Taunton hub for gym work on upper body work.”
As he lives in Ilminster the hub is only 20 minutes away, so he has been a regular ever since it opened. He says: “I was among those who pressed for it to be a gym and not simply a rehab facility. Luckily everyone was on board with the idea of opening it as a strength and conditioning facility as well.
“A lot of us west country jockeys make good use of it – conditionals, professionals and amateurs – and the regulars include the likes of Bryan Carver, Ben Godfrey, Sean Houlihan and David Noonan. Micheal Nolan is doing his rehab there too, and Adam Wedge has been using it as well. Once the boot is off I’ll be using it for rehab too.”
Before the Taunton incident Rex had won a Badger Beer on Gustavian and a Great Yorkshire Chase on Dartmoor Prince and also enjoyed other nice winners at big tracks like Ascot and Cheltenham, although things had slowed down a touch after the Great Yorkshire.
Looking ahead, he says: “Anthony’s is where I started out as a conditional, and I’ve always ridden for Jeremy Scott too. I also ride for Ben Clarke and Emma Lavelle, plus various others, and hopefully those opportunities will all be there for me when I come back.”