HARRY COBDEN is back riding five weeks after having surgery on a broken cheekbone.
Jockey Cobden was cruelly robbed of his place in the Grand National after a horror fall in an earlier race on the same day.
He was set to ride Sir Alex Ferguson’s hope Give Me A Copper in the Aintree showpiece on April 10, won by Rachael Blackmore on Minella Times.
But he had to be seen by doctors four races before the big one after coming off 50-1 outsider Lucky One.
The Paul Nicholls-trained runner was in touch with the leaders when it came crashing down four jumps from home.
Cobden was knocked out from the impact and TV footage showed him being helped into a nearby ambulance by fellow jockey Jonjo O’Neill Jr.
Cobden said at the time: “Further scans have shown that I have got a couple of fractures in my right cheekbone.
“I am having an operation but I am out for the rest of the season (likely to be six weeks).”
But a photo from Paul Nicholls Racing’s Twitter account showed the 22-year-old back on horseback.
The caption read: “Fantastic to have stable jockey @CobdenHarry back riding out this morning.”
Punters were delighted to see him nearing a race return too.
One commented on the photo: “Welcome back Harry, you have been missed.”
While another said: “Great to see you back.”
Cobden will look to help Nicholls – who is already operating at a 30 per cent strike rate – retain his top trainer title this season.
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