Has there ever been a more short-lived retirement than that of Irish jockey Jamie Spencer on the weekend?

It officially lasted about seven hours and 52 minutes, or thereabouts, with the stopwatch starting from the moment he hopped off David Simcock’s Trade Storm after the Qatari-owned six-year-old finished seventh behind Able Friend in the Longines Hong Kong Mile on Sunday.

While the jockey himself had not explicitly stated it was his last ride, although he had hinted at it, all involved with Trade Storm believed it would be his final appearance.

It was the culmination of a four-month retirement tour, an incredibly long lap of honour, which begun after the 34-year-old shocked the racing world after the Arlington Million meeting in August by announcing he was calling it quits.

At the time, he said he was taking up a back-room position with Sheikh Fahad al-Thani’s Qatar Racing, who he had been contracted to as their retained rider for the past two seasons.

Initially, it was suggested he had made the decision himself – that he had simply grown tired of riding – but he revealed last month that Sheikh Fahad was not intending to renew his contract and had told him in Chicago, four days before he announced his retirement.

In the ensuing months it seemed that every ride was his last. The Americans tried to suggest his ride on Toast Of New York in the Breeders’ Cup Classic was it, only for him to turn up five days later in Melbourne to ride Crafty in the Crown Oaks.

Was that it? Finito? Of course not. He rode at Doncaster the following Saturday, and even rode over jumps in a “flat jockeys” handicap hurdle at Lingfield that same week.

Spencer’s frustration at every ride being touted as his last was expressed in an interview with the London Times in late November.

“I seem to be asked about this every time I ride,” he said. “I haven’t stopped yet — I’m going to Barbados tomorrow and to Hong Kong next month — but people are trying to make every ride my last.”

And so to Trade Storm, which did look likely to bring the curtain down on his career – and the jockey even admitted as much in the post-race comments he gave to the Hong Kong Jockey Club: “[Trade Storm] goes on quick ground but that was hard. It looks like he was my last ride.”

Finally. He’d said those words: last ride. Now a great career could be celebrated, a prodigious teen jockey who had made it to the top of his game and reached many of the sport’s pinnacles.

But hours later, as most of the racing folk that had been at Sha Tin gathered in Lan Kwai Fong, the UK Racing Post broke the news that no, he wasn’t retiring. He had instead chosen to knock back the offer from Qatar Racing and continue on a freelance basis.

And on Wednesday night, he rode his “comeback” winner – three days after retiring – on the aptly named Master Of Irony at Lingfield.

The signs had been there. He had been hesitant to discuss his last ride at all, let alone his retirement, and even last week proved elusive when it came to discussing his career.

So it was not entirely a surprise. In fact, a comeback at some stage looked a lay down misere, but more two or three seasons down the road. Not after seven hours and 52 minutes.

Jockeys coming out of retirement is nothing new. American legend Gary Stevens made a return to the saddle last year – but he had been out of action since 2005, so it was a legitimate break where he built a career as a broadcaster and actor.

Lester Piggott won the 1990 Breeders’ Cup Mile on Royal Academy 12 days after returning from a five-year hiatus in which he’d turned his hand to training and even served a year in jail for tax evasion.

Even a familiar face to Hong Kong punters, Darren Beadman, had his own time on the sidelines when he stepped away from racing to become a pastor in 1997. Two years later, he found his higher calling was more on a racetrack than at the pulpit.

Across sport in general, such an about-face is rare.

Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr came out of retirement in 2007 after a two month hiatus and then ended a 21 month stint on the sidelines in 2009, while Michael Jordan called time on his basketball career on a number of occasions – each time, returning after 18 months.

In fact, the only comparison that seems fair is with Australian rugby league great Mal Meninga, and his “short stint” wasn’t even on the playing field.

A mere 24 seconds into his first interview to announce he was entering politics, he said he was “buggered” and had to resign.

For Spencer, it was the opposite – he had more to give, so he elected to remain in the saddle.

While no one can begrudge a man for changing his mind, it still had an element of comedy about the whole saga, the racing story of the year that wasn’t.

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