Battling Badel on how he bounced back to claim the Hong Kong Derby

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The 2022/23 racing season could well be considered both the best and most-challenging season of Alexis Badel’s career, but it was also one which proved that determination, grit and perseverance will eventually win the day.

The jockey took a nasty tumble when his horse Fantastic Way tripped and dislodged him back in November last year, leaving the Frenchman with a dislocated shoulder and a broken ankle. The injuries kept him off the track for seven weeks.

It meant that the jockey had to watch from the sidelines as another jockey, Ryan Moore, took the Group 1 Hong Kong Sprint trophy on Wellington – a horse that Badel had ridden to three previous G1 victories.

“Obviously it can be very frustrating to be taken off horses that you believe you have ridden well and you get suspensions, injuries … many things come along and you have to deal with everything. But at the end of the day you have to believe that if you keep working hard you will always bounce back,” said Badel in an interview with Asian Racing Report earlier this year.