Rohan Mudhoo started a new chapter in his riding career at Ashburton on Sunday, returning from a serious health issue that took him away from the sport for the past nine months.
The expat Mauritian jockey has been riding in New Zealand since 2018, earning 154 winners including nine last term, before a shock diagnosis halted his season.
"I was diagnosed with cancer in February, we had to take immediate action because the results indicated I'd had it for about a year and was already in stage four," Mudhoo said.
"The doctors wanted to get my treatment fast-tracked, so I rode my last meeting at Invercargill and one week later I started chemotherapy, which I underwent for the next six months.
"I am extremely lucky to have my wife Payal, she kept telling me to see a doctor as she thought something wasn't right, but I was riding plenty of winners and was just focussing on my riding. Finally she made me go and get a biopsy which resulted in the diagnosis.
"She was the closest to me at all times, I was wearing a smile outside of the house but she knew what I really went through mentally and physically. I cannot thank her enough, she is the biggest blessing in my life.
"The journey was not easy, I was getting four different types of drugs and one of those was doing damage to my lungs, so they had to restrict one as it was just too strong. But I've come through the treatment alright and my body coped well with it, and now I'm cancer-free.
"I was very fortunate to have my very close friend, Akhi Doman, living in Queenstown, so I spent a lot of time at his place to get away from Christchurch into a different environment. He was like an older brother to me and I am so grateful for that."
After receiving medical clearance to return to light trackwork, Mudhoo would come into Riccarton Park a couple of days a week, slowly building to riding up to 15 horses within the morning.
"I was not doing much exercise initially as I was heavy-headed most of the time, I was coming to the track to watch and be around the horses, occasionally getting on a quiet one to do a lap on the sand track," he said.
"Most of the time, I didn't have enough energy, so I just went for little walks out of the house or in the park.
"I got to 69kg after the treatment and I was thinking about walking away from riding, but my family was amazing, pushing me and motivating me to come back. My brother was checking in on me every day too, so I had to do it for them, even though my wife cooks very good food.
"Once I got the all-clear, I started riding a lot more work and getting back to the gym, running on the treadmill and getting more physically active.
"I've been riding for about five or six different trainers at Riccarton including Andrew Carston, Mike McCann, Pam Robson and Danny Crozier, which has been good."
Sunday marked a very special moment for Mudhoo and his supporters, returning to raceday riding aboard three horses for Robson and Crozier at Ashburton.
"I was very happy to come back at Ashburton, it was great to get a feel of racing again after a long time," he said.
"I just wanted to take a couple of rides to work on my fitness and I've come through that well, I didn't blow after my first race even though I was hunting from about the 800m. I had three back runners and all ran on well, all the trainers were happy and the horses have pulled up nicely."
Rohan Mudhoo will continue his comeback trail at Gore on Wednesday, riding another three runners across the meeting.
"My biggest supporter down south is Jo Gordon, unfortunately I've had a couple of my horses pull out of the meeting, but I'll have one for her, and a couple for Barrie Blatch as well," he said.
"I'm working hard on getting my weight back down, so I can take those lighter rides as well. At the moment, I don't want to take anything lighter than 56.5kg, because I'm already down 13kg since my treatment and I don't want to be wasting too hard.
"My biggest aim at the moment is getting back to 54kg, where I previously have ridden, and then obviously riding my first winner back and saluting the judge as soon as possible."
Mudhoo expressed plenty of gratitude for the support he has received during this challenging period, particularly in his local South Island and Canterbury contingent.
"I want to say a huge thank you to the South Island racing community, Tim Mills and the Canterbury Jockey Club, NZTR and the Boys Get Paid for their amazing support," he said.
"Andrew McKerrow, the Racing Chaplain and 'chocolate man', helped me a lot both emotionally and mentally through the hard times.
"Also, to my family, my good friend Roopesh Jaun, and my other fellow jockeys, Mose (Terry Moseley), Kylie (Williams), Tina (Comignaghi), Sam (Wynne), and so many more. The list just goes on, I apologise if I missed anyone's name as I have just received an incredible amount of support and I'm so appreciative.
"I'm just so pleased to be back."
