A LEADING jockey who was placed in an induced coma after sustaining serious injuries in a fall while racing is set to be moved out of intensive care.

Middleham-based rider Henry Brooke, who is among the country’s best jump jockeys with 26 wins this season, has made “good progress” since fracturing eight ribs and puncturing his lungs after falling at Hexham on Saturday.

His mother, Julia, who runs a racing stables in the town, said her son had little memory of what happened at the second fence in the two-and-a-half-mile novice handicap chase and was already targeting a return.

Mrs Brooke said she had been watching the 25-year-old, who also works as a bloodstock agent at his mother’s yard, racing on television at home, almost a two-hour drive from Hexham.

She said time seemed to slow down as the meeting was halted and medical staff spent two hours treating him on the course.

While her concerns heightened, she was given regular updates by course officials before the Great North Air Ambulance transferred him to Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle.

The trainer said: “Sometimes it is possibly better not to be there.”

As he remained in a coma members of the North Yorkshire racing community, including Malton trainer Brian Ellison for whom Mr Brooke had been riding, said they were praying the jockey and expressed delight when it was announced on Sunday evening that he had regained consciousness.

Mrs Brooke said while her son faced a lengthy period of rehabilitation, his enthusiasm to get back in the saddle remain undiminished and did not appear to have been shocked by the incident.

She said after coming out of his coma, the first thing he said to her was he would definitely be racing in December, but she felt that was unrealistic and that he would need to visit Jack Berry House, a rehabilitation and fitness centre for jockeys, in Malton.

Mrs Brooke said the racing community had shown strong support for her son, who was champion conditional in 2013.

She said: “Loads of people have wished him well and have rung him up to see how he is. The lads [jockeys] are all there for each other, tomorrow it could be them, and the racecourse has been fantastic - anything they can do.

“This shows how valuable the air ambulance is for this sort of job.

“They are used such a lot for the racing community and it is regularly on the gallops at Middleham to pic someone up. We will have to do something to raise funds.”