Quick-healing Prebble denies he's quitting HK
Ahead of a whirlwind return from injury that will see him riding work on Monday, Brett Prebble has written to the Jockey Club to categorically deny reports he will finish in Hong Kong at the end of the season in July.
Australian media commentator Richard Callander reported in The Winning Post racing newspaper that Prebble 'has done almost everything he wanted to do when he went to Hong Kong...except for winning the jockeys' premiership' and 'the mail from within is that his family has had enough with the lifestyle and they want to return to Australia.'
Callander said a deal had already been done to sign Prebble (pictured) for a high-profile Melbourne stable and reminded his readers they 'read it here first'.
Prebble said the story was a fabrication and he was even more surprised as Callander is a friend.
'Richie is a mate of mine but I don't know what possessed him to write something like that. It's just embarrassing for him - in other circumstances, I would probably be going down a different path and looking for an apology,' Prebble said.
'I've sent a letter to the Jockey Club and told them the whole thing is fabricated, that I regard it as a privilege to be able to keep riding here and I haven't had even a casual discussion about a job in Australia. As far as me and my family are concerned, we are very happy in Hong Kong and there are no plans to leave.
'We're happy, the owners and trainers I ride for are happy and I hope the Jockey Club is happy for me to continue because as far as I'm concerned those are all the people I have to worry about. I haven't had as many winners this season because of suspensions, some days I rode in Japan and now an injury, but I've had an international winner and all things considered I'm not having a bad season.'
Prebble is also overjoyed at the prospect of returning from his broken collarbone to ride work on Monday morning - just 16 days after falling at Sha Tin.
That means he will be back to ride Lucky Nine in the Group One Queen's Silver Jubilee Stakes next Saturday, a prospect almost unthinkable when Prebble suffered the fracture on February 11.
'I've had a few injuries but this is the fastest turnaround ever,' he said, after getting an all-clear from his specialist and the Jockey Club yesterday.
Prebble said the decision to have a CT scan and a steel plate inserted had been key to his quick recovery.
'The X-ray is only a two-dimensional picture of the injury and can give a false view, but the CT scan is 3D and more accurately shows the extent of the break,' Prebble said. 'When we saw that, the decision to get it plated looked the right one. I've healed so well - even the scars from the stitches have healed up quickly.'
