A LOW-KEY KANGAROO ISLAND RETURN FROM INJURY FOR GROUP 1 WINNING RIDER DOM TOURNEUR

By Graham Potter | Tuesday, February 17, 2026

It has been twelve and a half months since jockey Dom Tourneur saw race action, but the Group 1 winning rider is now ready to make a low key return to racing, having been booked for six rides over the two Kangaroo Island meetings at Kingscote on Thursday and Saturday.

Tourneur’s extended break was a result of the serious injuries he sustained in a fall at trackwork in February 2025 … very serious injuries.

Listening to Tourneur speaking in a recent interview with Racing SA, initially you would be forgiven for thinking it that the whole process, while unfortunate, was pretty straightforward.

“I had a fall and injured my back. I had to have surgery … and since then it’s been as good as gold,’ stated Tourneur matter-of-factly … but, when Tourneur went on to explain the exact nature of his injuries and the route his recovery process had to take before he could even think of getting back on a horse, it quickly became clear that there was a lot more to it than that.

“I injured my back to the point where some of the disks collapsed and the vertebrae collapsed as well and crushed the disks, so I had to have surgery,” continued Tourneur.

“They fused one area. They cut some bone off my hip, put it in a block … and then the fuse … and then another disk they cut out and put an artificial disk in.”

Then Tourneur reiterated, “Since then it’s been as good as gold.”

It’s clearly that positive outlook that has helped bring Tourneur back into the game, along with his patience and discipline over an extended period where anyone of those attributes might have come up short in a person of lesser determination.

“It’s been slow and painful at times,” admitted Tourneur. “I was only able to only go for walks for maybe fifteen minutes after the surgery. The rest of the time I wasn’t allowed to stand up or sit down … I had to just lie down,” continued Tourneur.

“I wasn’t able to do any activities, so it was a slow and long process to recovery. Now I’m able to go to the gym … I’m able to go running … I’m able to use the exercise bike … pilates … all sorts of things … and nothing seems to be troubling my back so it’s looking very positive.

“It’s all going to plan. I’m looking at launching at the KI meeting. It’s a nice low-key entry there where I can knock off any cobwebs that there might be.

“I’ve got through the trials pretty well so far. The body’s handled it well and the mind’s pretty fresh. Very eager to go now and looking forward to the races … so it’s onwards and upwards from here.”

Tourneur’s has two Group 1 wins to his name. They came aboard Maybe Discreet in the Schweppes Oaks at Morphettville in 2013 and in the $1 million Emirates Stakes at Flemington in 2014, both for trainer Phillip Stokes.

Tourneur’s other big race experience includes, amongst others, riding the Melbourne Cup favourite Alcopop in 2009, finishing sixth behind Shocking in that year’s edition of the Cup. He also partnered Alcopop to a runner-up finish in the 2012 Group 1 Caulfield Cup when narrowly beaten by Dunaden.