KEY POINTS:
Five months ago Manawatu jockey Robert Hannam wondered whether he would be able to ride again, after fracturing two vertebrae in his neck in a fall at Gisborne.
On Saturday, the answer was emphatic with a double at the Rangitikei meeting at Awapuni.
Hannam, 40, said it was a thrill to be in the swing of things at just his second meeting back, after a couple of rides a week ago at Trentham.
But he said it was a secondary buzz compared to still being able to walk after his bad spill in September.
He spent four weeks in a halo brace followed by six weeks in a conventional neck brace, with doctors unable to tell him initially what his future was. "They opened my eyes, making it plain that there was a good chance I wouldn't ride again," he said yesterday.
"But I was just stoked that I was able to move and walk around. Racing is great, but it is not my whole life. Getting back to riding is a bonus and I am enjoying it."
Hannam has ridden over 700 winners, with more than 200 of them coming during a stint in India. His highlights have been double group one success aboard Greene Street in the Avondale Cup and Whakanui Stud Stakes.
Saturday's winners, Hitache and Makaraka Lady, might not be in Greene Street's class, but Hannam predicted more wins for them.
Hannam's effort was matched by fellow comeback kid Michael Walker, who kicked home Call The Chief and Hakuna Matata on the same card.
- NZPA
